Timeless
by JeffC FTW
Summary: He did not know who resurrected him from the dead, how it was done, or why he was brought back. His journey to discover and given a second chance at life has only begun. Post-war.
1. Reawakening

**Just like my oneshot "Inkyubasu", this idea popped out of the blue before I woke up, as a simple image of Itachi, and this time deals with his reanimation (a second time around). When he rearises, he takes a journey to find out why he was brought back and WHO did it. Luckily, he won't be alone in this. This fic will be extended, but not sure how long. Either way, I intend to give it devotion and love. :D I have not regretted any of my fics in the past.**

 **Without spoiling, there's some pretty disturbing content, but no rape or sexual violence in the direction. Just thought to give you the heads up.**

 **Disclaimer: should be obvious that Naruto does NOT belong to me, but to the uber awesome Kishimoto. If it DID belong to me, then Itachi would be my husband along with my equally loving boyfriend who is my reason to have gotten into him and the rest of the anime. ;D**

Chapter One

Reawakening

Darkness.

Cold.

He blinked and let his eyes roll about, not seeing anything but lines. Where was he? And then he remembered...

 _I'm supposed to be dead._

The last he remembered was seeing Sasuke, his beloved little brother, one last time when he released the Reanimation Jutsu, freeing his soul and the other Shinobi who unwillingly participated against their loved ones and comrades in the war - was it still going on? Did the Five Great Nations win against Madara? Was the demon still around?

He had so many questions, but how could he get those answers? He knew he had been reanimated - _again_ \- and swore. _Kabuto...he didn't learn anything, did he? If I ever get out of here, I'll finish him._ He shivered, assessing that his nerves, his veins and everything were functioning properly. He felt his blood pumping, his muscles contracting as he stiffened his limbs. He took a few deep breaths, feeling his lungs close in and out, but it wouldn't last if he didn't get out of this...thing, whatever he was entrapped in.

Flexing his fingers, he was satisfied that he could move. Next, he closed them into a fist before raising both arms, then tested his toes and entire feet before lifting one leg and bending slightly at the knee. Sighing with relief, he decided this was all he needed to assure himself he wasn't dreaming - and he wasn't dead any longer.

He frowned when he felt his flesh sizzle with the cold again. Bringing his hands up, he ran them over his hips, then his stomach and chest - he was naked. _What is this - a twisted form of rebirth?_

Against his bare back was what could not be mistaken for wood. He reached out in every direction, feeling about and tracing. He could not panic, but his rapidly beating heart was in disagreement. He was in a _casket._

"Damn it."

He'd found his voice. It was a rasp to his own ears; maybe his vocal cords needed time. But right now, he needed to try and get out of here.

If he were another being, he would have reminded himself to not burn himself, but with one such technique of his, he could do this. He took a deep breath and concentrated his chakra on the target ahead. This one was risky, but he did not need to say so. He braced himself for any pain that could come...

 _"Amaterasu!"_

He saw the black flames begin to leak through the hardened obstacle before his eyes. He made sure to not have it targeted at himself, but his prison which encased him. Wherever he was, he wasn't buried underground, which was a relief - but it baffled him. Why wasn't he buried beneath the earth somewhere? If he had been, who dug him up and why?

It was a matter of time before the lid of his coffin was cleansed away by the divine ebony flames, and light poured before his vision. _I can see everything._ He blinked, pleased he felt no pain, but how was it he could feel cold while he was inside this thing? With a grimace, he sat up and stretched his bones some more, before sitting up and assessing his surroundings. Hoping there would be someone to give him answers...

...but no one was around him. He frowned again. That was strange; he sensed no other chakra forms around. He was alone.

Itachi Uchiha found himself standing in the middle of a cave. How typical. He sniffed the stale air, but he assessed he wasn't that far away from the nearest entrance. He found he could still use his Sharingan. He tried once more to assess any chakra life-forms, but scowled when he sensed nothing. Whoever had brought him back, they took off so abruptly.

 _They must not have the patience to wait around and see me come back before their eyes - or they thought to leave me alone and see how well I function._

He couldn't help but allow a small smile to form. If there was one thing Itachi appreciated, it was the fact that someone had common sense to know that the great Uchiha loathed being used as a pawn.

But what was he supposed to do now?

Remembering his nude state made him decide that a hunt for clothes was in order, but after that? He did not know where he was, or if there were any nearby villages, but he decided now that he would not waste any more time speculating. He turned every corner he could, taking off in a flash and wincing once in a while at the rigidity in his bones at the pressure of speed. His bones needed means to replenish. He didn't know if he would die out so quickly, nor did he know if he was able to eat or drink anything like he did when he was alive. Itachi found himself finding the light at the end of the tunnel in no time, breathing fresh air as soon as he was free.

 _There is no time to waste. I must flee this spot before I am found. I need to gather small, important means to survive before I can proceed._

Itachi was prepared to detect hunter-nin in the area, but he had no weapons, which meant _genjutsu_ would have to be in question as there was no other alternative. He could cloak his chakra, but there could always be one Shinobi or more who sensed chakra. He must be on the move - always on the move as he had been half his life. _Too short a life, it was. But I lived it, following orders and accepting without question, like a good Shinobi._

 _But...how much time passed? What has changed?_

As soon as he gathered what he needed, he would seek out those answers.

He hoped to do it before the day ended, for the pale, delicate colors of early evening became too familiar before his range of vision. The sight of the sun with its vanishing warmth sent a light tingle over his bare flesh, making him smile a little wider at the steadily rising spark warming his regenerating cells. He felt like a nymph leaping through the forest, his long hair flying out behind him in the breeze. He had no tie to pull it back, but he wasn't concerned at the present.

Suddenly, in midst of a foot stepping on a branch, he let out a harsh yell of pain when said shock erupted at the end of his ankle, coursed throughout his leg and over the lower half of his body. As a consequence, he lost his balance and found himself falling downward, but he managed to land on all fours if still burning with the throbs of his limbs. Grunting and groaning at the consumption, Itachi pulled himself up before dropping to his knees again.

"I moved too soon," he said aloud to no one in particular. Which made him snort, given he was doing so well thus far. Or was it because the cool air was getting to him? He managed to stand enough to slump forward towards a collection of shrubs which would hide him from watchful eyes. He gasped sharply and fell behind them, on his side, facing a collection of rocks. "Oh, Kami, I'm so cold." He wrapped his arms around himself and curled his legs to his chest, wondering if he was going to die again like this...

Darkness claimed him within seconds.

When he found that he could awaken, he was consumed with heated warmth and sensation that left him reeling in pleasure.

Itachi groggily opened one eye. "...hn?" He shifted, slowly sitting up, feeling something along the lines of warm flesh and fur brushing against his naked body. _Someone -_ something _\- covered me while I slept._ Weight moved with him before abandoning him completely, and Itachi sat all the way up only to find himself face to face with a pair of glowing icy blue eyes. A low growling whimper was the greeting along with a bow of the head. He took in brown-gray fur, four legs and a bushy tail as well as a snouted face.

He was in a staring contest with a _wolf._

He sat up straighter, putting his hands in his lap, his legs crossed at an odd angle as he continued to observe the animal which also gazed up at him curiously with its snout bowed. The beast had kept him warm for the duration of the...night? He tore his eyes away to look around and see pale golden sunlight streaming in from cracks overhead. He was in yet another cave; how could he not sense that he was hauled in his sleep? He hummed as he continued to gaze into the eyes of his unlikely aid which was now coming up to sniff at him in the face, taking in his odd, stale aroma which he now got a whiff of through his own nostrils. He'd been alive for only a day and was already nearly frozen to death before passing out and waking up to being warmed by a wild animal that didn't attack him on sight.

Upon further examination from his place, Itachi made out that his unlikely savior was male. "You saved me, did you?" he asked, even though the answer had been obvious. He couldn't help but chuckle when the animal took a few steps closer until his snout was in Itachi's face, giving him a lick on the chin. He let another laugh escape him. "I wish I knew a proper way to thank you - if you could even talk." He brought both hands up and scratched the wild dog behind its ears, making it whimper at his touch.

 _I believe I made a new friend so quickly._

Itachi stood up then, testing his bones and muscles by stretching out and relaxing after hearing the pop in his joints. Sighing, he finally noticed his nude state and remembered his goal. With another sharp breath, he looked back down at his new friend and savior. "Well, my friend, do you know any villages or towns nearby?" In his younger days in ANBU, he and Shisui used to temporarily make wild animal friends before duty called them back. There were times those little friends of theirs were slaughtered mercilessly by enemies. He was not sure he could risk it this time.

The wolf whimpered, then bobbed his head up and down. Chuckling again, Itachi knelt down once more to scratch him behind the ears. "You understand me, eh? That's reassuring. I wonder if I have the ability to naturally understand animals now, in my third life." _But why in the name of the gods would I be alive in a third life? Has the world not tormented me and the dead enough?! Have Kabuto or Orochimaru not learned their lessons about disrespecting the living and dead?_

But if it was neither of them, then _who_?

He grimaced when he felt his stomach clench and registered his drying throat, coughing a little. He was hungry and thirsty. The wolf seemed to notice and turned his back to the living dead human, but turned his face back around to make sure Itachi would follow him. He began to trot in the opposite direction, and the former Akatsuki and Leaf Shinobi followed him. Might as well live wild for awhile. Take one step at a time.

There happened to be a spring nearby that his companion led him to, and today was a warm breeze that made him sigh. Throwing his head back, Itachi let the warmth cover him with its richness. He felt his entire body vibrate with the pleasure before he pulled out of it and remembered his thirst and hunger. He knelt by the stream, scooping a handful into both hands and bringing it to his lips.

Cleansing bliss washed over him and his very soul. He might be dead, but he felt alive with this feeling.

Itachi decided he could take a bath in here. He took one more look at the wolf who glanced at him again with a curious eye as he continued to drink. He shivered when his body was consumed by the small pool that the stream led into. His hands roamed over his body as he splashed himself from his face to his neck and shoulders, then down over the front...

...and it was then that he saw, for the first time, the dramatic change to his body in that particular place.

 _WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO ME?!_

Itachi could not recall the last time he lost control of his emotions like this, but when he looked over his body with a really good glance, he leaped out of the spring, deciding he was clean enough - but when he looked down at this part of himself, he felt filthy and impure, wondering what he'd done in life to deserve this. He'd committed crimes on orders, for the good of the Hidden Leaf Village - and for his baby brother's life - and joined the rogue organization because Madara had offered him. _Damn that monster for turning Sasuke into a criminal._ He bared his teeth in a snarl, but the past was the least of his worries.

If you could look at the well-honed body, lean and not brawny with finely sculpted muscles, you would see that the Uchiha was a fine man - but one such morbid oddity stood out. The V-shape between his pelvis descended into a soft curve between his legs. What had happened to his length? His pubic hairs? And upon further investigation with his fingers, his balls were missing, as well. It was an utter humiliation and insult to his manhood!

He found himself looking at his reflection in the water now. His skin was pale, olive-tinted, and more angular than he remembered. His loose hair was over his shoulders, but it had lost the rich raven shine and was now a dull charcoal gray. Sasuke now had his eyes; if you could call his current pair _eyes,_ they were pools of black swimming forever with the blood-red Sharingan in place.

He looked like a ghost, or a demon.

A specter doomed to walk the earth.

 _A freak of nature._

Itachi closed his eyes and bowed forward in the manner in which you would fall to your knees and beg for forgiveness. But what would he beg for? Why was this done to him? His body wracked with the abnormalities that his lower body presented, and his eyes. He needed to find something to cover up soon, or else he would be seen as a monster and shunned like in the tales of old. He might be dead, but he was still a human being. He deserved to be treated like one as long as he was walking in the world he no longer belonged in...

A wet bud of a nose prodded on his arm, making him jolt back up to his sitting position. The wolf looked at him and whimpered, making his beating heart crack in a place. It was then that Itachi decided this fellow deserved to be named, for the Uchiha owed him that much. With a burdened being and the need for contact, he wrapped his arms around the beast's neck and leaned into the coarse but warm fur, burying his face into the back of the neck.

"What am I to do now...Shiranui?" His new friend seemed to like the name he was christened with - after the god himself - for he licked the back of Itachi's hand, making the young, undead man chuckle and struggle to keep his sobs in.

 **The wolf who saved Itachi is actually named after Shiranui (the father of Amaterasu). :)**

 **Two stories that inspired me that come to mind are "Edo tensei" by Cabriolean, and "Resurrection" by Virtute et Armis. The first is a short which deals with Sasuke bringing his brother back after the war (has incestuous undertones), and the latter is during and AU of canon when Itachi and the other reanimated Shinobi are brought in the war - but he himself is caught in the possession of Madara and is reconnecting with his brother...but we know it will end badly.**

 **This story will be told overall in Itachi's voice, and I am sure of it, if not in first person narrative. Stay tuned for how he continues on. Reviews are ABSOLUTELY loved to be had - but if anyone flames me, face my temper. Hope no one took that last part the wrong way.**


	2. On the Hunt

**I only say reviews are appreciated at least one time, because saying it more than once every time you do a chapter is a WASTE of time and may be irritating to readers. It SHOULD be obvious that they ARE appreciated, right? ;)**

 **My man read the last chapter, and he HAD to compare Itachi's current state to the Ken doll. XD I hadn't thought of that for YEARS. It disturbed him to no end. He thinks I'm relishing torturing my male readers, and maybe it is true - but not with a sadistic streak. (blushes) You guys must think I'm crazy with this. There IS also a reason for Itachi's new form, but it won't be revealed too soon...**

Chapter Two

On the Hunt

Staring at his reflection in the water would accomplish nothing, nor would sitting here naked with his new companion would do any good. If he remained here too long, chances were they would be caught. Rather, him because he was a living human - _correction, half dead, half living. Without an important masculine aspect._

 _My sex altered between my legs - what a miserable joke._

Whoever revived him, they did a fine, intricate job for whatever reasons. He let his newly named furry friend, Shiranui, go so he could get himself more water to drink because he was parched. His skin crawled with the cold of the spring. He wanted to hold onto the wolf again, but the animal's fur could only do so much. He needed to do one thing for certain now: it was time to hunt.

"How do you hunt, hn?" he asked the wolf, who growled softly and bared his teeth, but not to threaten him. Then the expression softened, and he turned his back to his human and swept his tail out behind him. He wanted Itachi to follow him again.

Itachi chuckled and rose to stand beside the beast as they began to stride through the forest. "It seems we are already in harmony with each other, without trying too hard," he noted.

Only how was he going to do his part in the catch?

It seemed Mother Nature was kind to him today, on his first day - and he meant today was the first, not counting yesterday when he awoke and freed himself from the casket only to collapse from the cold, and wake up in the heated embrace of a wolf of all creatures. Shiranui accepted him as soon as he'd seen him, but didn't he have a pack he belonged to? Wolves kept close to their own kind, were ferociously protective of their mates and pups, and they were vicious towards enemies. But they were also wise and deeply spiritual, incredibly powerful.

The grass beneath his feet was smooth and soft, the earth dry and in need of nourishment from the heavens. The trees whispered to him, reminding him he wasn't alone - but how would you describe his predicament when he had no idea what leads to find, what clues there were to his resurrection?

Water reached his nostrils, along with the breeze, and the lush earth. He was calm and free, one with the wild. He did not know how long he would last in this form, but he intended to make everything count. He did not wish to fight in this state; he wished to have peace.

 _If the one who raised me isn't on my side, then the gods better be._

Shiranui's sense of smell as well as his hunger snarls roused Itachi from his mulling and crouched behind the brushes he found. Itachi followed him and knelt beside his companion, peeking out and detecting no human shapes.

But a _wild rabbit_ was within the vicinity.

However, Itachi's senses picked up an incoming chakra form. It was not threatening, but he could not be caught.

 _Leaf Shinobi._

~o~

 _It feels like good old times with Shisui - only myself and a remarkable beast._ He smiled at the manner in which the brown-gray creature proudly held his head high with the freshly caught trout in his jaws while the human slung the dead, bleeding rabbit over one shoulder as well as the kunai and shuriken that he attached around his bare waist. Originally, he'd planned to take it by force. It was against his morals to steal another Shinobi's weapons, but right now was necessary. He would not do this forever - if it didn't grow on him too deeply to be pulled out.

The utility belt had a piece of cloth attached that he switched around to preserve his unnatural modesty, leaving his buttocks uncovered. He wasn't ashamed, as long as the place where he was far more self-conscious about was not seen for another's eyes - notably his own.

The Shinobi had been from the Leaf, as the headband that fell from the man proved. However, he'd been wounded and stranded from his comrades. He suffered immense wounds; he'd lost his leg and was bleeding profusely, therefore not having long to live. Instincts kicking in, Itachi decided he could not just idly stand by, because the man was dying. He leaped forward from his hiding place while Shiranui handled their kill. Whatever happened, he thought to gain some information from this man before he died.

These reasons were selfish, he knew, but anything he could tell the living dead man who was now over him would help in the slightest. As a reward, Itachi would promise him a proper burial - or to take him back to his family if he had any. Risky, but he would never leave a fellow to die and be food for the primitives.

The Shinobi had pale brown hair and eyes green as the forest around them. His skin was growing pale gray with impending death. Looking into the other's unnatural eyes, he felt his own widen. "Y-y-you're a -" he choked, only for blood to spill from the corner of his mouth. Itachi wished he had proper medical aid.

"Yes," he said heavily, bowing his head. "I'm dead, but I have been reanimated for unknown reasons."

"Who brought you back among us?"

"I do not know," Itachi answered honestly. "I am wandering the land, trying to find the answer. I do not intend to remain in one place too long. And I have no means to harm anyone." He leaned forward with his head raised by an inch. "Tell me what happened to you," he begged gently, taking the man's hand into his. "And tell me your name."

The man let out a gasp. "H-Hachi Shindo of the Leaf," he answered. "I was in the town of Kirinono, not many hours' journey from my village, when the Hokage received word that there was a gang of rogue ninja from the Snow -" Itachi inhaled through his nose sharply. Hachi was still speaking, in a steady rhythm now despite the fact his time was running out. "- attempting to take over the area, and my team was sent. We trailed the enemy here, chasing them from the town, and it got u-ugly...and I was left here. I insisted the rest of my comrades worry about the mission and not me." His fingers closed around Itachi's.

The Uchiha felt his brows furrow as he processed this information. He considered asking for more on this, before deciding against it. "Your comrades left you to die," he stated, "so they could catch the enemy." _Duty calls before the lives of your comrades, of course. And he's willing to let them save the lives of others before his own. He's dying a selfless act._ In a way, this made Itachi feel like the last "angelic" face this man would see, because he was not dying alone.

Shiranui had not returned yet, assuming he was still hunting their target. "I may be causing you discomforting pain by asking you all these questions, when you are dying under such circumstances," Itachi said, monotoned to his own ears. "But please tell me anything you can. I must get to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. I may or may not have any living familiar faces there, but it's a start."

Hachi smiled weakly. "If you have family, then I envy you, whoever you are. I lost my family as a child, and I was willing to devote my life only to my village and my comrades." He coughed briefly, some blood splattering on his vest. The man was an orphan who would have no one to truly miss him, and it hardened Itachi inwardly. So, he'd made the right choice to stay beside him despite the fact they were complete strangers.

Green eyes narrowed then as they looked deeply into his eyes. "Y-you have the...Sharingan. Are you an Uchiha?"

"You know the Uchiha clan." Itachi was a mix of surprised and not. "You know any around?" The only one he could think about was -

"Yeah, there is a Sasuke Uchiha of the Leaf. I don't know him personally, but he's married and has a kid going to the Academy. Everyone alive knows the history of the Uchiha clan and how blood-stained it was - he was no exception, and he's been pardoned and working to earn the entire trust of the village ever since."

 _Sasuke..._

He closed his eyes and forgot temporarily about the other until his voice penetrated his daze. "I can tell you know him - or did."

"I did," Itachi answered. "He's my younger brother."

~o~

Hachi died within moments after he told him enough, but not everything. Before he passed, the man let him have every weapon he had on him, for survival means and saving Itachi the trouble of taking them by force and desperate measures. When the noble ninja passed on in his arms, Itachi honored him by burying him beneath a tree, because it was what he wished for. _He wasn't afraid when I told him who I was, who my brother was - it was like he could see right through me. He did not see me as a threat. He saw me as a...lost soul trying to find my way through my former life._

Now that he knew where he would go next after what the man told him, his mind was plagued with trouble as he now walked beside Shiranui with their hunt over his shoulder once more while the wolf trotted with his own catch from the river in his jaws.

When he was still partnered with Kisame, the rogue Mist Shinobi had been the one to catch their food the way he had, and Itachi had learned more tricks from him than he did in younger years. Now Kisame was dead, given Killer Bee now had Samehada - or did he still? _One person in my life I know is dead, so Kisame is out of the question._

He and the shark man weren't exactly the closest of friends, but a small sense of nostalgia washed over him, and he sighed heavily. Shiranui noticed and whimpered, making him chuckle. "Nothing for you to be concerned with. Just thinking about an...old friend from a long time ago."

Shiranui let out a substitute of a bark and turned his attention ahead. "What about you? Do you have a pack I haven't met yet?" Itachi pressed. Little did he know that the direction he was being led to would give him the answer. It wasn't long before he and his companion were greeted with another wolf that was brown-gray like his ally who now dropped the fish on the earth and marched over. Itachi watched the scene as he lifted up the other catch.

 _The new face is also male - are they brothers?_

The question made him think about Sasuke. His brother had been forgiven - no, pardoned was the word. But had life gotten better for him? Hachi said he was married with a child who was now attending the Academy, but it wasn't enough. Itachi felt pride swell within him that his _otouto_ had found happiness...but he had to SEE for himself, if hidden in the shadows for the time being. If Sasuke healed his wounds, then Itachi would not intrude and reopen them.

 _But I MUST know._

Itachi heard a low, menacing growl and discovered the other wolf directing fierce eyes at him, and he assumed the position, taking a step back and prepared for a defense just to be safe, but then Shiranui saved his life. He snarled at his brother, apparently telling him this was his new friend and meant no harm. The other's fierce expression softened then, before sniffing and huffing in disappointment as he'd been looking forward to a fight. He then turned his attention around and began to lead the way, Shiranui following. Itachi trailed after them, keeping behind only because he was not their master, but an equal - only he had to prove to Shiranui's brother that he was, not just because his brother interceded on his behalf.

He followed Shiranui and the other male wolf - in which he noted the differences because his companion had no marks whereas the other and fiercer carried a scar behind its right ear, differentiating them altogether, and this new one had golden amber eyes in contrast - to another cave, where he was greeted with a stunning surprise.

There was a female wolf laying on her side, whimpering and thrashing a little, spreading her legs slightly. Her fur was a soft silvery white, but her eyes were closed. Itachi's keen eyes detected the slight roundness of the middle of her inner body - _she's pregnant. She's in labor._ So, either this was Shiranui's mate, or it was his brother's. He followed the two males and let the catch fall so he could give the birthing female his full attention. She must have been in labor for some time now, and the unnamed male had found his brother to call him back. He smiled at them both, at their closeness and devoted loyalty.

He received his answer when Shiranui's brother moved to lay behind her; she was his mate, which marked Shiranui as her brother-in-law. Itachi felt a piece of his heart crack. Why did this make him think so much about his brother, himself...the family Sasuke had now...?

Itachi knelt before the sight, unsure of what to do. All animal mothers were ferociously protective of their young, so this one would not hesitate to snarl and attempt to bite him with the wrong idea. All he could do now was watch as the first baby left its mother, the sight fascinating him without true reason. This one looked just like its mother, and it was a boy. Its fur was shining with its mother's fluids. He took the whining pup into both hands and brought it to lay beside its mother. To hold that precious new little life in his hands...

The next pup that came was also male - a combination of both parents with the white fur splotched about with brown and gray - followed by a third and final which was brown just like the father, and it was female. Itachi could not help but feel tremendous pride at the sight of the newborns nestled now against their mother who was slowly recovering her strength, her mate nuzzling her with his snout and licking at her, before giving his attention to his little ones.

 _This was a loving father, willing to kill to protect his family._

Itachi watched for a while longer before leaving the new family alone and deciding that preparing the meal would come now. His stomach clenched again as it had been a while since he drank from the stream, but now he was starving. He had eaten wild rabbit before, but right now was so much that he decided to let the family have the rabbit while he had half of the fish and let them have the other half, as well.

He decided he would go out after this to get some wood to make a small fire for himself. He found his seat on one of the rocks, taking out a kunai and getting to work with severing the catch in half, exposing bones and guts. He tore the bones out and left savory meat. His hands were covered with pink-red gore as he tossed one half as promised to his newfound pack, and Shiranui greedily took the offering over to his family as he'd done to the rabbit.

There were small methods of Fire Style for means of lighting a fire or cooking your meal, so he performed one, and within seconds, his fish was ready. The scrumptious smell made him feel like he'd taken an aphrodisiac, and the rich taste and texture took him to that nirvana.

He walked over to the pack and crossed his legs as he sat before them. Shiranui nibbled happily on his share while his brother and the mate were fasting on portions of the fish. The babies were happily suckling their mother's milk. It was nothing but peace and happiness, something he had not had in an eternity. Shinobi seldom had peace in their lives, always rushing to live to the fullest before their time was over. Right now, Itachi Uchiha wanted to savor every moment with the company of his new pack and relish a good meal with them, then leave to jump through the trees as he gathered fire wood when night would fall and for more food, and finally try to get a peaceful night's rest when the day would end.

It also seemed Shiranui's brother began seeing him in another light, but he remained wary, and that was fine with the Uchiha. And since he had named his friend, Itachi had the perfect ones for this family. He took to calling the fierce father and alpha male Ryujin, after the god of the sea who happened to be a dragon. His proud mate appeared to be divine enough to earn the name of Amaterasu, and their pups had their own identities that did justice.

"I think you shall be..." Itachi pondered while he regarded the little silvery white male with creased brows. "...Fujin, because you were born first." _And the one with the wind._ The other boy with the combination of both parents earned to be called Suijin, after the water god himself. And the girl was Sakuya, after the cherry blossom princess who was the child of the mountain god himself.

Shiranui, the proud uncle, whimpered and bowed his head before going over and giving his niece and nephews little nudges with his snout, the mother Amaterasu not minding at all as she trusted him with her life. Once more, Itachi found himself wondering about his family at the present, without him. He closed his eyes and tried not to break anymore than he already had. He had to be strong. He intended to carry on, and if he was not needed by Sasuke anymore like he'd sworn before he was released from the Reanimation Jutsu, then that was it.

 _I spent a lifetime before my death putting others before my personal happiness. I gave it all up a long time ago. Why should I take it now when my brother has healed without me?_

 **I don't know where Kirinono really comes from, but I simply thought of Sasuke's jutsu Kirin which he used against Itachi in their final battle, and it seemed fitting to be for the town the revived elder Uchiha goes to now. :)**

 **The minor character of Hachi Shindo is named after two different men - the surname comes from well-known late Japanese director Kaneto Shindo, and Hachi was the main male character of one of his great classics which I am a fan of, "Onibaba".**

 **Itachi naming his new furry companions after known deities was nothing short of fun and fitting. :) Thanks goes to my boyfriend when it began with naming Shiranui in the beginning.**

 **He really has spent his entire life never thinking about himself, only others - even when he let himself be named a criminal when he was chosen to slaughter his clan to save the entire village he loved so much. The very village Sasuke hated with a passion for doing THAT to the brother he loved so much. When Edo Itachi voiced his guilt at failing his brother in every step of the way, my heartstrings were pulled and threatening to snap completely especially when he said his final words of love before departing.**


	3. The Wolf and the Moon

**Named after the YouTube composition by Brunuhville - epic, magical and uplifting. :)**

Chapter Three

The Wolf and the Moon

 _"I know now that you could have been the one to change Father and the others. If only I'd come to you from the start instead of standing before you as a failure..."_

When he slept, he dreamed. He didn't think of himself as human anymore because of this one part below his waist, but he discovered he could _dream._ And he remembered the last moments with his little brother before his soul left the sacrificial form he'd been trapped in because of Kabuto. He had always lived as a coward, a liar, he never knew who he was...just a tool...

...and he turned Sasuke into the hateful rogue he had been.

Itachi opened his eyes at some point during the middle of the night, finding his form blanketed with the heat of Shiranui, whilst his brother and sister-in-law as well as the pups were sleeping soundly, curled into each other. He smiled sleepily at the sight before feeling his gut and his heart clench painfully, followed by every internal organ he had. He'd promised Sasuke he had no more regrets, and it was true, yet -

 _"You don't ever have to forgive me, but no matter what you choose to do from here on now - I will love you_ always _..."_

 _And from there, I got to finally see Mother, Father and the others. Shisui welcomed me back - but here I am now. And Sasuke...he is still suffering, is he not? Did he forgive me even though I don't expect him to?_

Something burned his eyes; he was on the verge of crying. He clutched onto the sleeping wolf before him, whilst trying not to wake his friend. He desperately wanted to see him, to see the family he had - he wanted to see how his niece or nephew was faring. Because of their Uchiha blood, did they awaken their Sharingan yet? Did they fight for recognition like their father?

And Naruto? Did he become Hokage yet?

 _My little brother is so lucky to have you as a friend._

Itachi leaned into the wolf, sobbing and waking the beast up. Shiranui whimpered first and then licked the side of his face. He melted into the touch, crying harder than he did in his life, and more than earlier when he discovered his abnormality. He had never felt so alone, so in the dark - but he had this magnificent creature by his side.

He shivered suddenly when his back was assaulted by the night air. The moon was peeking in. He couldn't go back to sleep, not feeling like this or with Sasuke and the unknown on his mind. He turned his attention back to his companion who looked at him expectantly. He gave the beast a small smile, apparently one thing on their minds.

It wasn't long before they were running through the forest in the dark of the night, with the moon casting on them both and giving them light in their path.

His weapons were around his waist, the cloth covering his modesty rippling to expose him with each leap through the trees. At this rate, his friend wouldn't be able to catch up to him, given his manner of speed was a warrior's rate. He slowed down enough for Shiranui to pick up pace with him, pausing to rest every now and then when the wolf couldn't take it. He smiled and stroked the back of that great neck, emitting rumbles of pleasure from the wild dog who licked his hand. "Don't worry, my friend," Itachi murmured. "We have all night."

 _Alas, we have to hurry. I must grab what I need, guilty as it will leave me. It is unlawful to steal - especially from unsuspecting victims of theft._

What he had in mind were the clothes he should have gotten when he had the chance. Hachi told him Kirinono was less than a day's journey from the Leaf Village, so it couldn't be a great distance from here.

When they arrived at the village, he was pleased to know about the lack of activity, but who knew if any lingering Shinobi were here. The moonlight reflected off his pale body, likely to give away his presence, unless he had to appear as a living wraith and hide his face...

He would have to hide his eyes, as they were his most notable of features, and who would see him beneath his clothes? He snorted and stifled a laugh. It also meant he had to do something about his hair in addition, but he was torn about cutting it shorter. When he was young, his hair grew and had to be tied back to keep it out of his face. Shisui once joked about looking like a woman with his long raven waves, making Itachi narrow his eyes and cause the other to cease his cracks.

He would have to deceive the world if he was to begin moving among them, for living in the wild would only do so much. Besides, he was tired of being naked and cold, living off wild animals and streams. Once he found coverings for his body, he would proceed to find a doctor's place to cover his eyes. A blind man - that was what he would pose as. And to aid in his disguise, a staff would suffice. He smiled to himself at the promise of his plan.

"Don't leave my side," he breathed harshly to Shiranui who growled at him in affirmation, promising to sniff the air for anyone who might come near.

It didn't take long to find his clothes - correction, the clothing belonging to another, now his. They bore a striking resemblance to the garments he wore last time in his previous reanimated state. The hooded jacket was burgundy-colored, and he found a thin undershirt that clung to his body, outlining his musculature well, the neck dipping into a V. He also found navy trousers that stopped at the knees, and finally a pair of sandals. He was ready to go.

He and Shiranui found the doctor's place in no time, currently empty and unoccupied. All he needed were bandages for his eyes and previously mentioned staff, but he would make one of his own back at the cave. Right now, he needed to return with his comrade in arms. Chuckling, he looked down and met the icy blue gaze of his wolf. "Believe me when I say we are partners in crime now, Shiranui."

Itachi looked down at himself and smiled with relief, pulling the fabric around his taut frame. _Ah, the joy to be clothed, at last._ But it did not stop the wind from picking up, reminding him that he needed to get back to his place with the pack.

~o~

Amaterasu never left her babies' sides, and Ryujin often would leave with his brother to hunt for the family, leaving Itachi in charge of the mother and children. Not that he minded in the slightest. He was content to watch over the newborns, feeling warm to his core.

However, it was painful to think back to the day Sasuke had been born. He remembered pregnant Mikoto telling him he would be a big brother, then asked him if he wanted a brother or sister...

 _I want a brother._ That was what he said, and his wish had been granted.

 _To pinch Sasuke's cheek, to hold him, to have my finger held in his tiny and strong grasp...to learn he is named for one of the greatest Shinobi before our time..._

Itachi gazed upon the wolf pups whimpering while blindly making their way over each other and against their mother as she gazed down at them adoringly with amber eyes warm as the sun. He did a fine job naming her after the heavenly deity. Smiling, he stood from his sitting position and stroked the mother behind the ears. Her eyes closed as she moved into his touch, and she licked his wrist where his pulse throbbed. The jolt was minor but clearly pleasant. "Amaterasu, you remind me of...my mother." A small part of his mind wondered why he would compare his mother to this remarkable creature, when the answer was obvious: _she may stay behind to look after her little ones, but she is still very powerful and ferocious._

He hoped Sasuke's choice in a wife had been just that; his _otouto_ could not be any more foolish to not.

Itachi pushed his loose hair over his shoulder, remembering the other dilemma about his appearance. Decision made, painful as it was, he picked up a kunai and took the bunch of thick locks into his hand, squeezing his eyes shut and bringing the knife up, slicing his long mane so it now ended just above his neck, like it used to be when he was a child. _A part of my old self removed for the sake of now - a part of the old Itachi Uchiha severed just like..._

Amaterasu whimpered when she looked at his actions and then the mess of charcoal hairs that remained in his palm, some falling to the ground to blend in with the stone. Itachi smiled at her and put the kunai back with its companions before gathering the severed locks and leaving the area to dispose of them outside. He didn't care what would become of them, but before he let them be taken away by Mother Nature, his heart was briefly taut with momentary sadness.

Her mate and brother-in-law returned in no time with more rabbit that he would make over the fire for his portion and leave the rest for their family. Gazing over them, Itachi was overcome with another wave of sadness. He would leave them soon, move on, but he would never regret the time he spent here.

Given Kirinono wasn't many hours away, he decided tomorrow at dawn would be beneficial. When he told his little pack, he received whimpers and bows of the head. Even though the pups were too young to understand such things, their cries added to the tension in his heart... _which is becoming more soft._

"I will forever cherish every hour and moment I have spent," Itachi told them all, taking each male into an embrace before leaning over and letting his face be licked by the female, then finally reached over to kiss and rub each pup. He would end up alone again when he left tomorrow...but then Shiranui stunned him with a bark and lift of the head.

"YOU INTEND TO COME WITH ME?!"

The wolf bobbed his head up and down, earning a growl from his brother. Ryujin wasn't happy with this; wolves stuck close to their own kind, but who was Shiranui to abandon someone whose life he saved and owed him for it? Itachi wished he could stop his friend, but it would be futile, and he knew it. The beast would follow him to the ends of the earth.

But who would take care of Amaterasu if something happened to her mate? Who would provide for her and the babies? Itachi believed she would do that for her young ones, but that would be limited - or he was being too much of the all-knowing one and underestimating her.

He supposed that left one option remaining, if this family was sticking together with him then.

~o~

The moon shone for one more night in this cave, his last night - no, his and the pack's last night before they would move onward to new territory. He wouldn't be surprised if his makeshift family would mark their territory on the way to the Leaf Village, but he had plans to drill it into them to be on their best behaviors, but wolves weren't that terrible compared to most house pets.

That night, Itachi lay on his back, sandwiched between Amaterasu and the pups, Ryujin on her other side, and Shiranui was on Itachi's opposite, as he gazed up at the cave ceiling, letting the Sharingan penetrate through the cracks to make contact with the moon herself. Wasn't it ironic that it represented feminism as well as eternity, immortality and the dark side of life? And the fact it represented many forms of the soul, and its stages represented the different stages at the beginning of life?

 _The new moon for birth._

 _The crescent for childhood and eventual adolescence._

 _The full moon for pregnancy and adulthood._

 _The moon fading away for the end of life._

The moon god himself was gazing down at him and smiling, or was it a mockery because he was half-dead, half-alive and only _half_ a human man? With one last exhale of breath, Itachi let himself drift off to sleep.

Dawn broke through the cracks overhead, waking him and his pack on the spot. Warmth radiated over them, but weather had nothing to do with anyone's emotions - in the deepest recesses, at least. Every weather he endured in his lifetime, he never gave an in-depth care for. But today...he looked up at the symbol of the goddess herself before gazing down at the mother wolf whom he named after her. He took the liberty of carrying the pups within the wrappings of his coat, and they whimpered because they missed their mother, but he remained right beside her. He doubted that carrying the pups all the way by their necks or on back would last for long. He intended to stay the night at an inn or someplace anyway, and they would all go with him. Even if they were not allowed, he could find means to sneak them in undetected - as long as they did not make messes, but if they did, it was his responsibility to clean up after them.

He carried the babies with one strong arm while his other carried the handmade staff from a tree branch in the other, pleased with his crafted disguise. If anyone noticed his choice of clothing, they might accuse him of theft, but did anyone else dress alike, hn? _I would hate to have to use Tsukuyomi on them..._

With that in mind - and with the bandages over his eyes to cover his unnatural irises but were transparent enough to let him see - Itachi Uchiha walked forwards to the small, peaceful town ahead with his pack in tow.

 **I found a very reliable source that gave me the insights on the many symbolisms of the moon, and each stage, which I never expected to see. :)**

 **It was hard emotionally for me and my boyfriend (who read this) to have Itachi cut his long, gorgeous hair for the sake of disguising himself on his way back home to his little brother and finding out why he was resurrected. And to explore his own emotions when he let his long hair go was even more so. :( Think of it as a way of his "new me".**


	4. A Blind Man's Tune

**It's been hard to try and figure out what Itachi can do with his time here in the town of Kirinono, before he moves onto the Leaf Village. Eventually I came across an idea that has been used enough if not ALL the time - involving music. Simple but still touching.**

Chapter Four

A Blind Man's Tune

Through his bandages over his eyes, he had to admit he was pleased with what he was seeing. This place reminded him of Konoha, but it wasn't as great. He could live here, but he had a goal to fulfill. After this, who knew what would happen.

He was aware of the stares he received when he passed through with the three wolves sniffing the air and holding their heads high. The pups were sound asleep in his arms beneath his jacket. His staff was the perfect display of his disguise. If there were no Shinobi around, he would sell without difficulty. He gave a slight smile, just to show the people around him he meant no harm - or so he hoped.

 _This smile doesn't feel like it belongs to me._

All his life, he pretended to smile; more often, he did not smile at all, except around two people: Shisui and his little brother. He did smile sometimes around Kakashi and Tenzou in ANBU - how were they now? Often in front of his father and the rest of the clan, he was forced, having begun practicing since he was four years old.

Sasuke used to smile as a child - but as a teenager, he looked upon those around him with hatred or indifference.

But now, as a man?

The longer Itachi pondered these questions, the more eager he was to see his brother regardless of being rational in his thoughts. He had made the vow to love him beyond the grave even if he did follow through in destroying the very village that his elder brother sacrificed everything he had for - if Sasuke hadn't changed at all...

"Sir, what business brings you and these... _animals -_ " The voice was male, middle-aged maybe, and the wiser to step up and greet him. The stranger was to his left, and keeping the pretense that he may be "blind", he continued to smile, feigning ignorance. "- here to our little town?"

"Forgive me," Itachi answered politely, "I am simply a blind stranger seeking my way back to the Leaf Village."

No one else seemed to hear him, or they simply didn't care - but a handful who heard looked on with wide-eyed surprise. The man speaking to him gave a hearty laugh. Then he reached to offer a hand to Itachi before a growl from Shiranui caused him to step back by one. "Oh, don't mind my friends," the former Leaf-nin assured him. "They are very protective of me. I'd have been dead if not for them."

Ryujin and Amaterasu went up to the kindly man and sniffed at him, then whimpered. It was odd for the alpha male himself when it came to his own family. Through the sheer shadows of his eye bandages, Itachi took in the gray hair at the temples of the dark brown hair which was in a buzz, and the matching eyes reminded him too much of his kin. Keeping his hand on his staff, he offered his free one out. "If it's not too much, and given you are the first face I have come across here, could you kindly take me to a tea house - if there is one?" For some reason, he found himself craving for his favorite dango which he had not had the pleasure of for _ages..._

 _After all of this...I suppose I could let myself indulge in an old part of myself, like dango._

To feel a warm, human hand was strange, but welcoming. He nodded down to his companions, then remembered the sleeping babies in his embrace, glad they'd been wrapped up in addition to his arm support. He apologized to his guide and let go to cradle the pups beneath his jacket, which the man noticed at once.

"Oh, I see little ones. What are you doing here? Moving in with a pack?" he asked jokingly by the time they stopped at the destination Itachi never thought he would find.

He chuckled lightly. "More like I am returning home after being away when the...war began. I seem to have lost track of much of the time," he lied, softly and smoothly. "I've lived on the move since losing my eyesight during the fighting, and these friends of mine saved my life not that long ago. They are my family; I never go anywhere without them."

Suddenly, a shrill voice called from inside at him. "Excuse me, you can't bring those things in here!" The voice belonged to an elderly lady whom he noted was dead-set on making sure her prized place was spotless and safe from wild animals.

Itachi turned his face downwards. "I suppose that means to listen to her, my friends," he said sadly, earning whimpers and bows of the heads. Sighing, he knelt down, keeping his hand on his staff and using his "free" arm to open his jacket down the front to reveal the waking pups being offered to each adult. Their parents and uncle each took turns taking them by the back of their necks before laying them down on the ground to nestle against their mother while their human member went inside with his unnamed new "friend".

~o~

"I admit, I never thought I'd meet another young face who loves dango as much as I," his new friend told him with a guffaw as he watched the younger man eagerly snarf down the entirety of the tri-colored piece he never thought to expect here. This was a longtime favorite of his before his death; it was a miracle to be blessed and given a chance to savor his infamous sweet tooth at a time like this. "Name's Hotaka, by the way, my new friend. Hotaka Yoshida."

"Pleasure," Itachi answered after a swallow, forgetting his manners and cursing to himself. "I do not know how to thank you for this. It's been so long...and you are the first I have met in that time." He "looked" up at the other face, giving a smile.

Although, inwardly: _I am not used to being given something and not giving back._

The other man took a small sip of green tea. "I see you're not used to this kind of attention. What have you been up to since you escaped from the blood, death and fighting so many years ago?" He seemed to suspect more than he let on, Itachi could sense, but he also wasn't quick to judge based on appearances - but if that was the case, then he had to keep his guard up more than he thought.

Hotaka leaned over then and there by a few inches. "Are you a _Shinobi_ in disguise, my friend?"

Itachi felt his insides freeze at the question before he broke free from the ice. "No, of course not," he said evenly. "If I was, I would never trust a stranger unless I absolutely knew for sure." _But I can see that he is trustworthy enough - and he doesn't do a good job hiding anything from me._

"Sorry I asked then." He chuckled and took a piece of his second dango stick. "We've had some trouble recently."

"So I must have heard before I arrived here. Do you recall any details?" Itachi swallowed the final piece off his third stick. If he didn't know better, he'd say he was having a craving that might very well match that of a pregnant woman.

The elder sighed and rubbed his temples. "Eh, I have seen a lot despite this small town of peace, and let's say that it was a first time since I was still in my prime - maybe about your age. I heard those guys were from Snow Country, trouble as they are," he said with a scoff. "You hardly see them much these days, given the great tragedies were over since eight years ago." _Eight years...the war ended then._ "They thought they could take our way of life; luckily, the Leaf arrived and chased them away. Hopefully they won't come back, but who knows."

Itachi found himself thinking about Hachi and how his comrades left him, unable to find time to return and find his body, to which Itachi had buried him at the man's request. The pang in his chest returned.

"Anyway, I remembered: how rude!" Hotaka chuckled. "I never asked your name, yet I told you mine."

He swallowed. He hadn't had the time to think of an alias yet, but the first came to mind. "Ryuu Kaze." _Dragon wind._ "And as I told you, I am from the Leaf Village." He downed the last of his green tea, feeling like he was going to lose his appetite suddenly, when he didn't even finish his treat.

"Interesting name. Do you have family that you plan to return to in your condition?" Hotaka scratched his chin in thought. "You must be brave and strong enough to return this way, and with your furry friends still waiting for you outside."

Itachi smiled. "You don't know the half of it."

"Say...you have nowhere to crash until you carry on, do you?"

He felt his brows furrow in a frown. "I never thought you would ask -" _He is offering me and the pack a place to stay. This is too much..._ "- but I am not sure if I can accept your offer."

Another scoff and wave of the hand. "Please, it's been a while since I have had guests. My son left me to go get married and start a family of his own, and so has my daughter. My wife passed on three years ago. I could use some company for as long as you want to."

Itachi did not know what to think about this. He tried to decline before he reminded himself that this was his show - deceitful as it was, and for the first time since Sasuke, he truly felt guilty of tricking this man who was treating him with such kindness and generosity. _It's necessary...but it feels like old times. Shisui...the only one besides Sasuke who cared about me._

In addition, would the local inn or anywhere else accept him _with_ the wolves? He didn't want to take the chance. This was the closest town several hours from Konoha, and he didn't feel like traveling for now.

Sighing, he accepted.

~o~

To be in a real home...he could not remember the last time he felt truly welcomed. All his life of moving and staying in one place only for a night before moving on, expanding to a few days or weeks at most, and the only real home had been the Uchiha complex, followed by the Akatsuki hideout...

 _I've never felt safe in one place too long._

As a woman would say - and a good Shinobi, on his part - if some things seemed too good to be true, they _were_.

"You shouldn't have done this for me, Hotaka," he insisted, playing the role of the humble blind man. "I could have made my way around..."

"Nonsense. I was raised to never leave a human being in need, and I taught my children that lesson," the man replied, leaning down to pet the snout of Ryujin, who growled gently and licked the back of his hand. Amaterasu had taken to laying down at the foot of the long lounge, her pups cuddling into her warmth once again, and Shiranui was sniffing around as he explored their new surroundings. "And speaking of which, Ryuu, what do you intend to do for some good money? Surely you don't wish to beg for it?" he teased, making Itachi laugh.

He shook his head and sat down, putting his staff in his lap, not sure if he should part with it yet. "I honestly have no idea. I don't wish to disappoint a soul seeking permanent hired help."

"But something is better than nothing," Hotaka insisted. "I am a member of the local tavern, of a band to be exact. Depends if you can play the flute or not. Our lady left due to maternal leave. Might be your luck."

The question hit home for Itachi. _Mother taught me to play as a child, and then Sasuke learned..._ "I may..."

Hotaka exploded with excitement. "Just your luck, Ryuu my boy!" he bellowed, making him jump in his seat, before he vanished faster than the Sharingan behind the bandages could detect, coming back several seconds later with a box - and inside was none other than the instrument itself. Itachi allowed his hand to be taken and placed over the polished bamboo stick, reveling in its natural scent and the craftsmanship. He could only imagine what magic would escape once he put his lips on the end, unleashed his heart and soul through the holes...

A memory took him back to the time he first played for Sasuke, right before the bamboo fountain of their compound, which he was aware of leaving through the space between the pads of his fingers and the smooth edges of the holes in the stick. When he was finished with the relaxing melody, the wolves looked him on with lifted noses, and the host himself was speechless before gasping out and falling to his knees.

"Oh, Ryuu...that was beautiful. I've never heard such heart before..."

Feeling the tear that escaped one corner of his eye - _I've never felt like this before. I never felt so...free._

Later on when he was brought to meet with the other men in his group - a total of five, Hotaka included; two young to be his own age and the other two were also in the middle-aged range - he was told the same thing and was rewarded when he played the flute that night with them, amidst an exciting beat of drums and a celebratory song of the enemy driven away from their peaceful grounds.

 **In the event of time, let's see if "some things are TOO good to be true" proves fruitful as Itachi suspects.**

 **I figured Itachi would do something that wasn't fussy for him, such as playing the flute, and I believe I know a couple shorts in existence where he does play the instrument, but I can't remember which ones. The song he played on the flute was indeed "Zen Garden", actually composed by Derek Fiechter.**


	5. What is My Purpose in Life?

**So, so, SO sorry I kept you all waiting long enough. I was juggling a Kim Possible story as well as another fic, "Itachi the Cat". Plus doing his journey in here is so precisive that it needs to be done carefully, you know? I got so many new ideas I never thought of that it's not funny. :D**

 **I appreciate all the reviews I have been getting and I absolutely love all the support, however I feel like I don't get enough feedback on what happens in each chapter. I NEVER ask for much, but I'd appreciate it as well.**

Chapter Five

What is My Purpose in Life?

 _"Ryuu, what do you intend to do for some good money? Surely you don't wish to beg for it?"_

 _"I honestly have no idea. I don't wish to disappoint a soul seeking permanent hired help."_

 _"But something is better than nothing."_

He confessed to himself and to his pack around him in the room he'd been given - this had been Hotaka's son's room - that playing the flute, which was the best he could, _was_ better than nothing.

If he had another purpose in life that didn't involve being a tool for his own village, Itachi Uchiha never once considered the alternate possibilities. But here he was: a new member of a performance group in a tavern of Kirinono of all places. A more important human being of greater status would laugh and say it was foolish, ask the question as to what the purpose of performing before so many people was, and what would he respond with?

 _It was never a plan of mine. The opportunity came and found me on its own. I never sought it, nor was it forced onto me by another._

But he could not stop himself from asking the question all over again: _what IS my true purpose?_

 _Was I brought back to be given...a_ second chance to live?

~o~

He never found the answer to his question in the next month that passed. He never thought he would find himself spending more time than he would have liked, but it seemed like he had grown to love this town - but he did not forget his goal.

Sometimes too much of a good thing could lead to forgetting most important matters. Itachi had always made sure to never let that happen.

The first moment he was brought into Hotaka's group at the tavern, he quickly learned one of them were his younger brother, Tsuneo, and one of the young men around his age was called Kichiro and currently engaged to the love of his life. The other two were Isao and his son Fumio who also ran this bar. All of them warmly welcomed him as though he was already one of them, despite the fact he was "blind".

If any of them found out his secret, which he'd kept hidden thus far, then he would be shunned. He was prepared for that - but the one that would hurt the most was Hotaka who allowed him to share his home. He enjoyed every moment with his newfound friend and the wolves who had made themselves settled. Though Itachi had asked him once why his brother did not live with him, to which Hotaka replied that Tsuneo lived with his niece who was Itachi's age, if not younger, but his _otouto_ was DYING. He didn't have much longer to live, and it was unclear the limit given the disease was not brought to light until it was too late. He suffered bowel pains, had difficulty breathing, and none of it was good. Yet despite it all, he seemed to keep it going with their traveling pack.

Starting in two days, they would be going to the Village Hidden in the Leaves after a respite here in their hometown of Kirinono.

 _We are going to the village._ Itachi could not contain his exhilaration in spite of himself, gazing out a window that night in his room, with Shiranui nuzzling his head in his lap as his family lay curled atop a spread out blanket on the floor in a corner. Smiling, Itachi brought his hand over his friend's head, smoothing the prickly fur into silk, then scratched behind the flattened ears, making the wolf whimper softly.

 _I may finally look for Sasuke. The time is coming..._

But the question was _would_ he be able to get away in order to search? And how would he start without blowing his disguise?

Perhaps his time as an ordinary civilian - a ruse as it was - had slowly softened his senses and logic, his heart's desires becoming top priority. But he had no plans to remain in Konoha forever, despite his strong loyalty in death and rebirth. _Sasuke may help me, or not, but he is all I can trust. And if I can get to Naruto, if he's as I remember..._

He turned his head halfway at the sound of the knock on his door. Quickly, he pulled the bandages over his eyes, knowing who it was. "Come in."

"I hope I am not disturbing you, Ryuu."

"Not at all." Itachi smiled kindly, inhaling the soft breeze from the opened window. "The night isn't cold." Although, it did make his skin shiver a little, which soon subsided at the sensation of a warmer body which suddenly found its way beside him as Hotaka leaned forward to close the window. Shiranui raised his head and turned to go join his sleeping family, giving the two men their space.

"But it will soon drop," the older man replied, before kneeling beside him. He smiled, looking upon his face. "The boys haven't been to the Leaf Village for some time, since before the Snow incident. They're excited - even my brother." His smile fell then, replaced with sadness. It reminded Itachi of how he always worried for Sasuke over the years. "I'm worried he'll keel over on this gig."

Tsuneo was the man behind the gong, and sometimes the hand-held bamboo clappers for the beginning of the show. He was very good, to say the least, but once he'd been behind the _kokyo_ lute before his illness got worse and passed it onto Kichiro when he joined a couple months ago. Itachi swallowed and had to agree; suppose Tsuneo collapsed during transportation on the way, or by the time they arrived...or...

He ended his train of thought there. He was not psychic. "Have faith that he will make it for this time," he said softly to Hotaka, taking the elder's hand into his. "I've had faith even during the darkest of times."

 _No matter what darkness dominates before your eyes or behind them, there will always be light and hope._

Hotaka looked down at his hand held in the younger's before covering it with his own. Warmth sizzled through Itachi's nerves. Over the last month, he and this man had gotten to be quite...close. He was grateful for everything he'd done for him, but he wished from the depths of his soul he could now confide in him about the truth, but what if he forgot all sense of friendship and screamed at him for being a monster...a demon with red eyes...?

And not to mention, there were a couple times he came _close_ to seeing the most private spot between Itachi's legs when he would nearly come into the bathroom by accident, when the younger man would be cleaning himself up. Itachi had to put up the pretense that he was extremely self-conscious despite the fact they were men - which he _was_ , but what he bestowed was far more extreme that the fainthearted would bleed in the heart and through the nose from.

"Ryuu...I never understood why such a young spirit like yourself could survive traumatic times and yet retain that gentle, positive attitude." Itachi sighed and bowed his head. _If only you knew._

It was then that he noticed their foreheads touched, their noses made a jolting contact, and they were close enough to _kiss._ He was surprised, having not expected _this._ He did not know what to feel or how to think about this, but when and how did this happen?

Hotaka's breath was soft, breathy like the air outside - pleasantly so. The man looked just as stunned as he was, but he didn't draw back. He remained close to Itachi's face, apparently wondering if this was a good idea to go through -

\- before their lips made tender, chaste contact with each other, devoid of heat or tongue. Innocent and sweet, but something they both seemed to want from the backs of their conscious. Behind his bandages, Itachi closed his eyes and moaned at the luscious sensations that began to travel through his nerves and his blood.

He didn't want to go too far, though, and ended the kiss at once. "Hotaka," he husked, "I don't think we should do this."

"I agree...but did you like it, my boy?" He was genuinely concerned for the youth, afraid of taking advantage of him in any way, proving that despite their age gaps, he did care about Itachi - Ryuu.

Itachi did not remember being kissed like this before, not counting his mother. Bringing his thumb to trace his lower lip, he could still feel the tingle even when the contact was broken. He breathed in and out through his nose, but it did nothing for his heartbeat which picked up a pace. "Yes." Once the word was out, there was no going back.

It seemed the kiss marked a new step in their so-called friendship. _Only friends do not just kiss the way we did._

He found himself leaning forward again, grasping Hotaka's shoulders and taking his lips with his own, deepening now and taking it slow, building up the pressure which sparked small waves of heat. The older man growled softly against him, exciting him to his core. His doubts and uncertainties were forgotten for the time being; he only wanted to live in the moment and relish this small bit of joy he never got to experience in his past life. His moans became soft groans when strong fingers caressed his well-toned back beneath the tight, thin shirt, slipping beneath to trace and massage his muscles.

He wasn't aware of the bandages around his eyes falling loose until he felt the fabric on his nose and Hotaka's.

~o~

 _Damn it all, why did I let this happen?!_

He kept his eyes closed as he reached for his bandages again before pulling back again to rewrap the gauze - only to be stopped by Hotaka who spoke ever so gently, though now baffled. What logical answer could he give this man he had grown to care about now that he had almost revealed his _eyes_...? Itachi leaned back a distance, his blood going cold as quickly as the blissful moment ended.

"It's funny...I never got to see your eyes, Ryuu. Why do you always hide them? I don't see anything wrong with them." His brows furrowed. "Why do you feel the need to hide them from me?"

Itachi only turned his head to the side. "It's more complicated than I can confess to you..." he said softly. "...because you deserve to know more about me, only I will leave us both wounded to the heart in the end." _And I will leave if necessary, take my pack with me and carry on as planned._

Hotaka snorted. "You forget I've seen enough in my life, and anything involving the appearance of another - the eyes included - will have to do more than disgust me."

"Trust me when I say it is more extensive than you have ever seen. It's out of this world." He finally turned back to make contact. "I have told you only half the story from the moment we first met," he said, sliding further back into his chair. "You're welcome to push me out of your home and away from your tavern group any time you wish, but I never meant harm from the moment you came across me - and I don't now."

There was a pause before the other reached for his bandages and tugged it off his face, pulling them overhead. Itachi was quick to close his eyes before the deed was done; he heard the frown in his friend's voice. "Ryuu, please open your eyes and trust me," he pleaded. "This is what friends are supposed to do: trust with your deepest secrets." He reached and took Itachi's hands back into his.

 _Friends are supposed to trust._

 _Comrades trust._

 _Loved ones_ trust.

And trust was difficult to come by anytime, anywhere. It had to be earned and not given freely.

Looking into the eyes of the man before him, he saw years of experience, with more to come and eager to accept what came his way with a smile and opened heart - in a way, that aspect reminded him of Naruto. _Should I take this risk then...? I'm no stranger; I have taken leaps...but I am no longer a Shinobi on the surface. I am laying low; he is the first human where I have felt like I can let myself go..._

Finally, with a sigh, Itachi complied and opened his eyes, revealing the glowing red irises with the swirling tomoe, floating in a whirlpool of night. He expected unbridled horror, but aside from a soft gasp and a stiffen of the posture, there was nothing of the sort except a widening of dark brown eyes.

"Y-y-you _do_ see me," Hotaka managed at last. "You could see me all this time..."

Itachi bowed his head. "To say I am sorry for deceiving you would do no good, but I _am_ in deepest regret," he said. "Can you understand it was necessary?"

"I do...but...what's happened that you must shield your eyes from those around you?"

"I will tell you the whole story, but you will either flee or scream to the rest of this town, and then I must flee with my life and my pack."

Hotaka shook his head, frowning. "No, that depends on your account. I am anything but fearful of you. If you intended to do me harm, you would have done so a long time ago." Itachi shook his head then; this man was too trustworthy for his own good, despite his wisdom.

With that, he turned his gaze to look upon the blanket of stars and the crescent moon casting its faint glow onto them both, and began his story.

~o~

"So...you're Itachi Uchiha."

Itachi nodded without a word.

"The one who slaughtered his entire clan but spared his younger brother - all to prevent a coup d'état and an eventual civil war, and because he loved his brother so much," Hotaka said softly, understanding in his eyes because he, too, had a baby brother. "But you had to do it all on orders; you had no other choice. You wanted _him_ to survive, and you saw him as the one to slay you as penance..."

 _By "him", you mean Sasuke._

"That's right."

Hotaka was taking all of this better than he thought, not the least bit surprised - but still shocked that everything he'd heard about the legendary, dangerous Uchiha who became a rogue-nin and an Akatsuki member, was more than he would have believed. "In the end, you died a hero underneath the surface," he finished, shaking his head. There was a shine of a tear down his cheek. "I can't believe what I just heard..."

"You don't have to believe me, but it's all true. But you _cannot_ -" Itachi made himself firm and clear. "- tell anyone this. The Uchiha name must not be tarnished. If this were to get out to everyone in town and eventually to the Hidden Leaf Village, then the people would question the leadership. Everything I sacrificed my life for - for the village I love and for the brother I still love - would be for nothing."

"I am calling this horse waste," Hotaka spat, lip curling. "After everything you did for us all, for your own _otouto,_ you never deserved to be a traitor to your own people. I'm no ninja, but I am strong in my beliefs when I say this. You prevented a civil war once, and then you stopped a..." He stopped there when his face blanched at learning of a forbidden jutsu known as none other than the Edo Tensei, which brought them to the next part. "Now...you don't know who brought you back this time around, how or even _why?_ " He sounded out of breath, on the verge of passing out now from shock. Itachi quickly stood and went around him to stand behind him.

"That's all correct. Which is why I must get home. My brother and the Hokage may be the only hope I have. I have no answers, nor do I see a purpose for myself in this new life -"

He never expected Hotaka to heatedly recover and beg to differ, whirling around in his chair and looking down upon him with blazing eyes to match his words.

"Itachi Uchiha - even though you are still Ryuu Kaze to me; it does not matter! - who is to say your third life and second chance to live isn't a purpose?! Just because you were condemned before and died an honorable death, were brought back and then broke free to end it with Sasuke who took a different path than you - it does not mean you should not seek out a new opportunity outside death, violence and pain! You never knew true peace because you followed orders and did what was asked of you. Don't you realize that you are beyond paid up, owing everyone around you..."

Naruto's words came back with force: _Itachi...you don't owe the Leaf Village anymore._

He was at a loss for words, only thinking about his own thoughts. "Hotaka," he breathed finally, "I don't understand why you have to go so far to tell me all of this..."

"I do it because I care about you. You need the slightest amount of joy. You have had enough suffering in a lifetime. You gave so much; the least you can do is let someone else give you something in return without making you feel that you have to pay them back. Like this." With that, the older man leaned down to place his strong, firm lips against Itachi's, washing him with warmth and comfort once again. He lost himself in the third kiss, letting himself be wrapped in strong arms matching his body, even if he was younger and slimmer.

Now that he realized it, in the heated moment when his mind stopped acting like the guarded Shinobi of the Leaf, he allowed himself to take in the bliss of this man who was telling him words very similar to Naruto that day he left to stop Kabuto and the Reanimation Jutsu - and reunited with his beloved _otouto._

His mouth was pried open to let the other's tongue seek his out, the feeling and taste so much more than he expected. He could not even compare it to dango, nor could he call it foreign. _My purpose, besides seeking answers...besides seeking out Sasuke again..._

 _Could it be that I was meant for THIS?_

 **I want to take this moment to tell everyone I am sorry I am making anyone uncomfortable with the growing relationship between Itachi and Hotaka. I never intended to pair Itachi with anyone, given this story is NOT pairing-based; it's about him seeking happiness at the most unexpected of times. That's why this is a journey of self-discovery for him: to find missing pieces that he never got to experience in his past life. Hotaka, in the end, seemed like a good way to start, right after the wolves. :)**

 **Reviews appreciated as usual. No flamers, pretty please.**


	6. Return to the Leaf Village

**I missed you guys, and I know you missed this, too. :D Couple other fics down, and now this and "Itachi the Cat" will have my attention once more. I NEVER abandon.**

 **Before we begin, I'd love to answer the guest who asked me about the kiss in the previous chapter. No, it was NOT a spur, nor did I plan this. I believe I thought I made it clear before: it was all NATURAL. It just felt like the right time. This story is practically bringing itself to life save for a couple details I refuse to spoil. ;)**

Chapter Six

Return to the Leaf Village

When morning broke, Itachi was happier than he'd been in a long time.

He did not wear his bandages - yet - and walked around like he had nothing to hide. Yet he was still trying to process what had happened. Everything had been beyond his control; he'd confessed the truth, and Hotaka once again accepted him all too easily. _He's too trustworthy for his own good._ He'd known the man for only a month now, needed to know more...

...but he felt as though he'd known him forever.

 _This is ridiculous. This is what Mother used to talk to me and Sasuke about; this isn't a sweet love story. I have a serious mystery to solve about myself. I don't wish to drag this man into the mud with me._

He found himself looking out the window of the kitchen, wearing his _yukata_ and kept company by Shiranui. Outside, Amaterasu and her pups were having the time of their lives as the little ones were wrestling and growling with each other. Itachi chuckled and shook his head, busying himself with making breakfast. During the day, he was content completing the chores while Hotaka busied himself with the garden patch he created for himself. Greens, vegetables - including tomatoes, which were Sasuke's favorite, and it made Itachi swallow the ache in his heart.

Yes, he was becoming soft inside. How long had it been since he got to actually feel like a human and not a tool for someone else?

He looked down after cracking the eggs and putting them into the oiled pan, taking care to not get splattered. Next, he grasped the sprinkling, dried up greens to coat the sunny-side-up and seasoned them afterwards. Shiranui sniffed and barked once, making him laugh. "I doubt you like protein, my friend," Itachi told him, reaching down to scratch him behind the ears before reaching to take a piece of raw meat from one of the dishes and offer it to the shaking wolf; he was trembling from hunger and excitement as he happily lapped up the red meat. He licked every inch of Itachi's fingers clean until he was satisfied.

The door opened, and Hotaka's cheery voice filled the air. "Look what I have brought: freshly caught trout from the market!" he declared, flourishing the great, heavy bag. "Kichiro helped me out. He's a good lad and a best friend of my son's, and my boy handles himself at the fish market - one of the finest." He beamed and dropped the bag on the counter beside Itachi, then leaned over and inhaled the food in the pan. "Mmm-hmmm..." He purred, leaning against Itachi's ear, his breath tickling the younger's and making him almost knock off the dangerous tool.

"Hotaka, I'd rather you not distract me while I am cooking!"

"That's what my wife used to say to me."

"No wonder!" He had no idea why he said that; it was the best he could sum at the moment. Behind them, Shiranui growled playfully and arched, ready to attack. "You're just like my best friend who liked to make me the butt of his jokes." _Shisui..._

Hotaka rumbled in his throat and let him go to take care of the catch. "That makes us both like the ones we cared about so much and lost," he said softly, sounding distant. When he was finished, the scent of fish off his skin made Itachi decide to toy back and remind him to take a shower before he thought to try and kiss or touch him again. The older man huffed then and lifted his chin before turning to do just what he was asked. Itachi watched him go with a victory grin and a "hn".

The rest of the pack arrived in time to begin barking for their breakfast.

~o~

"On the house, boys!" Isao announced that night as he arrived with the tray of three bottles of sake and numerous shot glasses which made Itachi smirk. His inner Shinobi warned him that too much alcohol was dangerous, but he wasn't on assignment or ANBU - or even Akatsuki for that matter - anymore. After tomorrow, they would all be heading to the one place he'd come all this way for.

 _The time is upon us._

He hadn't seen the village in years - what was the same? What had changed? Hotaka had not been there for some time, so his excitement was an understatement. His friends and brother were ecstatic, like a group of young men - and yes, he meant all the same age - ready for an all-night without fear of the consequences. A month of this life, and he had never felt so...alive.

With one exception.

Kichiro was promised to marry his childhood sweetheart once they got back from their gig in Konoha, which would last three weeks at most, so he constantly teased Itachi - Ryuu, actually - about being a virgin, making him turn pink in the cheeks. "Boy, let him be!" Tsuneo scolded before having a coughing fit. "Not all are entitled to eternal happiness."

"And it doesn't last forever - only for now," Fumio chimed in after downing a cup of sake before taking a rice wrap around with a piece of salmon. "I haven't been lucky, either, except time and time again for a night." His father roared with laughter and slapped his back before assuring his boy that he still had all the time in the world; the right one would come his way. Life was all about trial and error...which made Itachi think about his own again. _Yes, all about trial and error...it's all I have known._

"Kimi and I are waiting until the wedding night," Kichiro spoke proudly, blue eyes shining so much like Naruto's, "so I have to admit I have to keep to myself for a while longer." This earned another bout of guffaws from the men. The Uchiha stifled snickers of his own; through his bandages, he glimpsed Hotaka looking his way and smirking. It was natural instinct for men to have needs and wants, and women, too, but so many took intercourse so lightly. Often, those who talked on and on could not wait to do it.

In the old traditions of the Uchiha, sexual relations were taken seriously; to have multiple partners and illegitimate children was often frowned upon. Which was one reason Itachi Uchiha never thought to take a partner in the first place, and never was he ecstatic about marriage even though his father arranged him once with a distant cousin before calling it off for reasons he didn't recall and didn't care for his own reasons.

Another factor of life Itachi realized he'd missed out on - but that did not mean he would leap into it. Not only that, but what would _Hotaka_ think if he saw his dirty secret...?

He'd done everything he could to hide this one other part of his body, feeling more self-conscious than he did about his eyes. The man was so good to him in more ways than one, yet Itachi feared being called a monster for sure, and even if the man _did_ want him that way, how would they make this _work_?

Itachi closed his mind from the subject and instead concentrated on the upcoming gig - and his plan in motion on how to find Sasuke.

~o~

 _He was naked against another, who held him close as he was ravished at the neck. Moaning like the animal he was feeling like, he clawed at the strong shoulders and the firm back, hardened by physical labor whilst his own was from the life of a warrior on both sides. But the other treated him with tender care instead of harshly like a prize he won._

 _"Ohhh..." Teeth gently nibbled the place where his jugular vein throbbed with want. "Gods, right there..."_

 _The other chuckled against his sensitive spot. "You want more?"_

 _"Please."_

 _"You asked for it."_

 _Those lips abandoned his neck and traveled down to briefly suck a nipple, making him gasp at the pleasure. Its partner hardened if neglected, and the lines of his abdomen were traced as they were licked, his belly button teased before - "Oh, don't! It doesn't work!" he protested when he realized what his partner was going to do. This was where he was no longer like his own side of the species, and once when he did touch himself, he got no reaction. But his partner only laughed lightly and did the unexpected._

 _He KISSED him on that spot. Smooth skin tingled and throbbed beneath strong lips and hot breath. His body began to twist beneath the other. He was more...sensitive than he thought he was..._

~o~

When he opened his eyes from the dream, that was when he felt what he never thought he would. It was late when he and Hotaka returned back to the house, and the wolves had survived without them and fell asleep. Itachi wasn't all that tired, strangely, but Hotaka was worn to his bones and went to his own room earlier than the younger, which left him the luxury to go clean up and then retire for the night.

Shiranui had awoken and whimpered when he arrived. Smiling, Itachi bent down to greet him and be licked on the face before stripping down and sliding under the covers, after extinguishing the lamp.

He did not anticipate Kichiro's "words of wisdom" on virginity and sex to be the culprits of his current dilemma. _The dream...I never had one like this before._ And what was more: he was burning and throbbing between his loins. Baffled and flushed, Itachi pushed off the covers and lay on his back, looking over himself and particularly at the place where his manhood was put to shame. The "V" continued to ache, and he had no idea what to do. He was too shy to even talk to Hotaka about this, and what could Shiranui do when he was but a wolf? However, as soon as Itachi's fingers found their way down there, pushing gently on the outside and then slipping further inside, finding the slit which began to lead to his backside, a sensitive place throbbed in response and shot throughout his lower body.

Itachi arched in shock, gasping a little before swallowing it and pulling the blankets back over his naked body.

 _Why am I DOING this?_

He did remember from ANBU some of the men talking about masturbation and how it was fairly normal if you couldn't get a partner or were unable to wait for them to come back to you, but never did Itachi think he would find himself doing it. He'd been thirteen and not yet beginning puberty, having his innocence taken from him a long time ago. Even in Akatsuki, such matters were paid no heed.

How times had changed: he was alive a third time, with only half a manhood left and finally feeling something he'd never acknowledged for a long time.

Knowing he would not get to sleep if he ignored this, Itachi decided that touching himself for relief would suffice. Rolling over onto his stomach, he spread his thighs beneath the covers as far as they would go, and continued to stroke the sensitive slit deep within his legs, moaning and gasping at the powerful shocks that ignited his body's system to life.

 _I never knew this could feel so good._

Perhaps in midst of his self-pleasure, he might have uttered Hotaka's name and didn't realize it.

~o~

The sun was shining on them when they arrived the day before the start of the festival in Konoha which would take place for the entirety of the month until the day summer would begin, and it was then and there Itachi realized what day tomorrow was.

 _My birthday._

He had forgotten up until now. He swallowed and went rigid in his seat, which Hotaka noticed as they sat in the front of the first of the two wagons they had for their equipment as well as for themselves and the others. "Ryuu?" he whispered, just in case the others heard. "Is there something wrong?"

"Tomorrow is my birthday," Itachi said softly, looking ahead. "But it's never of importance."

The older man looked stunned before recovering and giving his attention to the road ahead so they didn't get into any trouble. Itachi had his senses on alert because his inner ninja would come in handy without blowing his cover. And the wolves were side by side behind them; the pups nestled against their mother while occasionally looking up to sniff and try howling into the air for the fun of it, making the men chuckle. Shiranui and his brother stood like soldiers on guard as they protected mother and babies.

The festival was being arranged by the time they arrived as they spoke. Itachi found it in him to look around, feeling his eyes widen beneath his bandage at the enormous change he saw.

The small businesses looked as he remembered - including Ichiraku's and his favorite little tea shop, suddenly making him crave dango and green tea so soon, which he found in himself to tell Hotaka who chortled merrily.

"You'll get your wish, birthday boy. And you would be...how old now? Thirty?"

"I would have been twenty-nine now, had I lived." _Forever twenty-one. Which marks Sasuke older than I am now._ He chuckled at the irony. Big brother had become little brother.

As the Village Hidden in the Leaves had seemingly become a place of reliance on _technology_ rather than ignorance of the outside world, which seemed to make things faster and apparently easier than the old days. He didn't see ANBU around - or much - which told him Danzo's ROOT must be gone.

What he didn't expect to see were numerous _Naruto_ _shadow clones_ helping civilians and fellow ninja at every turn he spotted as the small caravan passed by. The Hokage was too busy to be present at every opportunity to come his way, which the Uchiha understood immensely and smiled. The Kyuubi vessel's devotion had not wavered. Several paused in their actions to watch the newcomers enter their village from the front gate - after verification, of course. Itachi was relieved when he wasn't checked out...but it wouldn't last, and he knew it.

 _The village has changed more than I realized._

The smiles on everyone's faces was genuine. Years of peace had passed, yet he could see that there were those who were too hardened by pain to ever move on.

Colorful banners of silk and ancient artworks were being hung, along with lanterns as tomorrow was the first day. Itachi had not been to one of these festivals since his younger days, and those in Akatsuki had been merely for infiltration on important figures and other _bijuu_ vessels. And tomorrow was his birthday, which made him wonder...

 _Will Sasuke and his family be present? This is my first chance to slip away to look for him._

 **Hope the wait had been worth it, and please review. :) Stay tuned for more.**


	7. Brothers Reunite

**I confess I really love Itachi's time with Hotaka and his group, though I am doing my best to make the other men likeable - even if I may not flesh them out completely. I know people expect a LOAD of development, but since I really like these guys (minor as they are but still important), sometimes a good character does not need complexity like Itachi and his brother, Naruto and Sakura, and any of the others we know and love.**

 **I had struggled with how to bring to life this festival that is happening. Actual Japanese festivals do last a good while, and this one has to have importance for a variety of reasons. These events are fun and opulent, and have various ceremonial practices. They're loud and breathtaking. (breathes harshly) And as for the name of this event, it was in thanks to a reliable translator as my Japanese is limited to none. :(**

 **With that being said, let's enjoy the latest. :D**

Chapter Seven

Brothers Reunite

 _A new Konoha._

 _A new era._

 _Smiles and laughter._

 _Shinobi mingling with the citizens like nothing life-threatening was coming their way._

Everything Itachi Uchiha witnessed around him was beyond his expectations. So much was so different but as he remembered at the same time. Everything did not have a single clan watching over one part, but everybody was brought together as one. Children were screaming and chasing after each other, couples locking in affectionate embraces, and elders happily chatting away as their last days or even months would be spent with long-fought harmony amongst the next generation.

Behind his bandage, despite his easy smile, Itachi felt his brows furrow. Would he encounter any sole surviving comrades? Was Kakashi still here? Danzo was dead, and the two counselors must be by now. That meant his secret must be safe, and he intended to never let anyone see his real face again or know his true identity. And knowing his brother, Sasuke would never let him within the village that caused him pain and led to his death.

 _Times are different._

So he still hoped, for his _otouto._

He had been scouting out amongst the crowds, but he did not detect anyone who even remotely resembled his brother. Or was he hiding away from the crowd if they still looked upon him as the traitor? He would not begrudge Sasuke if that was the case, but it would also make it a bit difficult to begin the search. Unless he would have to do this at night with Shiranui beside him...

"This is by far very...charming and fascinating," Hotaka noted with a vivid smile. "Who'd have thought that the Shinobi world would expand to the outside world, connect with more people than they used to? Old days long gone..." He paused there and sighed with sentimentality. "There always comes a time where new things are brought in, leading to growth and prosperity. But change is a part of life," he said lightly, taking Itachi's hand into his and squeezing it gently, making him laugh.

"You're absolutely right..."

Suddenly, ahead, Itachi could have sworn he saw a flash of black. The person was male, no mistake made. Spiky hair once flared out like the rear end of a duck was now matted down on either side, accompanied by a woman with pink hair and wearing the... _Uchiha crest on her back._ Itachi swallowed, feeling his whole being stiffen. _Kami...is this...?_

But there was no time to speculate. This had to be it. This had to be the man he was looking for.

 _Sasuke._

 _I've found you, brother. Now all I need to do is find the time and means to follow you._

"I see him," he whispered to Hotaka, who looked at him with a soft "hm?" Smiling at him, Itachi repeated. "My brother is here. I am one step closer to finding him again."

"In that case, I eagerly await to see how this goes between you two. An older brother always looks out for the younger, even if they are forced apart by circumstance and fate - even if they are obstacles in the way." A tear slipped through the corner of Itachi's eye, soaking the edge of the gauze as his heart splintered in the middle, as they were words he once told young Sasuke so long ago...

~o~

 _"This is Ryuu Kaze. He is new to our group. He was blinded and lost during the war, survived all this time until I took him under my wing. He's a strong fellow. He was born here, but has no family left. He's with me now."_ Hotaka had said those words when they were examined by the Shinobi guarding the main gates. Though they were in times of peace, precautions were still necessary. Itachi smiled, keeping the pretense of being a blind young hermit, holding his cane once more in his lap. The wolves looked upon the strangers and sniffed at them but didn't attack as they posed no threat, but Amaterasu did growl a warning when they got too close to her pups.

Next stop: the Hokage's office. Itachi swallowed.

 _Naruto._

 _How has he changed - or naught?_

Both Kichiro and Fumio were ecstatic to be in the presence of the Seventh Hokage. Isao was composed and prepared to represent every one of them. Hotaka, however, while he was also enthralled and ecstatic, supported his ailing brother who hardly displayed the physical symptoms of disease in his features. Tsuneo chided his elder for being too protective and would graciously accept what it would be. _Just as I accepted my outcome..._ Itachi closed off the morbid memory and found himself in none other than Hokage Tower with his friends...

...and right in front of the man himself in full robes sans the hat. Naruto Uzumaki was as he remembered, though the wild shock of yellow hair had been trimmed down nearly to his head for a cleaner, slicker cut. His once wide blue eyes had become smaller with wisdom, and tired with his job that he'd spent a lifetime fighting for, to be recognized in the eyes of the people they both loved so much - but he continued to smile at new visitors allowed into his village and in his office.

"I welcome the lot of you into the Village Hidden in the Leaves," the Hokage spoke with a nod of the head. He was surrounded with piles of paperwork and...very fascinating technological devices Itachi was keen to learn about. Despite his low profile, he wished to study more about the new wonders of the Shinobi world. He would not take anything in like a fool or blindly accept with deaf ears.

Hotaka had said technology was becoming an ally - but there were those who thought it more reliable than what came from the heart and soul. That alone was enough for the Uchiha to decide he wouldn't dare to set his foot into that world without careful examination.

 _If all goes well, then I will forge my own path to live once more._

 _If it ends like last time, then at least I will have savored learning the changes._

"Lord Hokage, it's an honor to bring my group here in time for the _Heiwa-sai_ ," Isao stated as the representative, putting an arm around his son's shoulder. "And we bring the liveliest of music in these times -" A hearty chuckle cut him off as well as a wave of the hand - and it was then that Itachi noticed Naruto's right hand was bandaged. He was stunned by what he saw through, when he recognized elements of Wood Style... _the First Hokage's cells regenerating..._

Naruto had lost his arm at some point in battle and had been given a replacement with Hashirama Senju's power.

He had control of the Nine-Tails, and now he had an element of the God of all Shinobi in himself.

He smiled. So, the young man had indeed become more powerful than before. He'd been placed on the right path, did not become egotistical and power-hungry like Madara - he followed through on his promise to Itachi during the war. Look at the village and the happiness under his care. The Five Allied Nations were still together, there was little threat...but a month ago, there had been the return of the enemy Snow. There had been no more word on them, but what if they were laying low...?

 _I'm no longer a Shinobi, officially. I am remembered as a traitor and murderer, but I still died for what I believed in. Yet I deserve to know what is going on._

But now he was listening to more about this festival which was known as the "Peace Festival". He couldn't help but snort with laughter. It was not a celebration which he was familiar with; it must be new, or had been brought to fruition after the Fourth Great War ended. If it had been because of the day the war was won, then this was a good cause to remember a great victory.

Little did he know he was half-wrong.

"Gentlemen, you are free to stay here for the majority of the festival," Naruto said at last. "And we could use a seasonal traveling music group. I admit technological recordings aren't always enough. People need more guts like the good old days."

Hotaka chortled. "Right you are, sir. Although, someday we will just be old relics of no value," he said sadly with a single bow of the head before he lightened up. "But there is no sense dwelling on the uncertainty of the future. Just live in the moment for as often as you can."

Naruto's smile was now distant, reaching his eyes. "I wish it were so," he said softly. "You all may take your leave and be prepared for tomorrow. This is going to mark as the seventh-year anniversary of the _Heiwa-sai_." _So, the celebration was founded a year AFTER the war...how interesting..._

 _But why on my birthday? Did Sasuke tell him?_

Now that he began to think of it, his suspicions were on the rise.

"Kaze-san?"

His "name" was spoken, and it was then he realized that Naruto was speaking to _him_. The rest of his group was nowhere in sight, save for Hotaka. How had he'd gotten lost in his own thoughts like this? But there had been a few rare times this happened, accidental or on purpose. The look the young Hokage gave him was knowing and emotionless at the same time. Itachi felt the creep up his spine as though he were a child about to be berated. It was a feeling he knew all too well.

"I wanted to have a word with you," Naruto answered, "and your friend here was just going to wait outside. The others have gone out to check into the new inn we have built."

He swallowed a lump, worried for the wolves but tried not to think about it since they were quite capable of taking care of themselves, long before he was rescued by Shiranui. "I'll be outside," Hotaka assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it gently. He then turned to disappear out the office door, closing it behind him.

Leaving Itachi with the man himself.

"What do you wish to know from me, Lord Seventh?" he asked carefully, smiling easily...and then the smile slipped when he was answered. Calmly, welcoming, but shocked and controlling it well.

"I want to know how you are alive again... _Itachi_."

~o~

Blue eyes locked with bandaged ones...and now it was clear the disguise was no longer necessary as it was only the two of them. With the gauze off his eyes, relief washed over his body now that he made direct contact with the young man he knew was the one to save his brother from darkness and bring balance to the world.

"So, you figured me out the moment I set foot within these walls."

"No...your brother did."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. _Sasuke..how did he see me?_ He should have known his younger brother would catch on, but how did he when they never made direct eye contact with each other, and his brother didn't have sensory technique? "Sasuke never saw me arrive," he told the blond whose smile returned to his whiskered face.

Naruto leaned back in his chair, relaxing but sitting straight. "He didn't, at first," he answered, "but his daughter saw you and your group pass by, and she pointed you out. Then his wife sensed your chakra level, and he saw through you using his Sharingan. He came to me right away, and I had to see for myself..."

 _Sasuke saw me. He recognized me without even approaching me._

 _He married a sensory_ kunoichi. _I need to know more about her._ And the newfound revelation of the child's gender made him smile. His little brother had a daughter, but how old was she now and what was her name?

"I assume he has been saved," Itachi spoke, deep in thought, looking down at the ground. "I have seen him upon arrival. I see he is happy."

"Yeah, though he is hardly home with his family, still protecting from the shadows - but he's accepted his life now. Some believe he isn't forgiven or welcomed back, and I am trying to prove them wrong." The Hokage sighed and looked off to the side. "It took a beating or two to bring him to his sense, but I managed like I promised you."

Itachi nodded. He found it within himself to take a couple steps forward and stop two feet away from the desk. "I heard that the war ended eight years ago," he said, remembering Hachi Shindo.

Naruto regarded him with a raised eyebrow. "Which brings me to my question you didn't answer," he pointed out. "How are you alive again? Sasuke told me you put Kabuto under a _genjutsu_ and made him release you and the other reanimated Shinobi."

The Uchiha closed his eyes, before reopening them to show the Sharingan swimming against dead black, reminding him of his predicament. "I do not know who brought me back or why. I have been living this way for over a month, with less than interesting means to share with you...Lord Seventh." He felt compelled to drop to one knee like he used to in his old ANBU days, as a sign of respect, which made Naruto frown, but the action made Itachi feel humble as he continued to tell him about meeting his wolf companions and then the dying Hachi whom he buried out in the forest not far from Kirinono - which was where the recent trouble with the Snow had taken place. There, he met Hotaka who was the first to welcome him, then allowed him and the wolves to live with him, and his friends even accepted him as one of their own.

But besides Hotaka, none of the others knew his true identity. Naruto nodded in understanding upon the finish.

"It can't be Orochimaru or Kabuto, because they've both been low-key on human experimentation and reanimation since the war was won," he mused. _So..Kabuto did pull himself from the pit and learned his mistakes._ He felt his mouth turn into another frown. _Orochimaru? The snake has returned, but_ how? _Unless Sasuke was the one to bring him back using a forbidden technique..._ "I wish I had a clue as to who would think to bring YOU back, and why they did. As much as I hate to say it, I hope it isn't to have you as a tool again. You have done enough, and if they think they can cause you more pain in death, they'll answer to us all."

Itachi bowed his head in agreement. "Will you help me then, Lord Hokage, even if I have to stay in the shadows to protect myself and your village?" he asked, receiving another wave of the hand.

" _Our_ village. To me, you are still worthy of a Shinobi."

Alarm flared up when he dared to grit his jaw. "Naruto, please tell me you did not tell anyone the truth about me," he insisted. _If the Uchiha name is tarnished..._

Another voice entered the air. _That voice..._

"Does it MATTER about the truth? What matters is that you are here again... _brother_."

Naruto stood up from behind his desk and motioned for Itachi to rise. The Uchiha obeyed and turned around, stricken to his core as a face resembling his own made him shake in his knees, but he was pleased that he held himself together. The other man in a swirling black cape looked like he was going to shatter, lose all of his composure, but he stayed where he was as he continued to look over his reanimated brother, taking in how his hair had been cut to ear-length, how he was garbed like an ordinary civilian, but continued to gaze at him with dead-and-alive eyes forever shining with their bloodline...

"Sasuke," was all the elder could get out. His vocal cords felt like they had already dried up.

Sasuke's eyes were shining, looking at him from a much older face than the one he remembered, but otherwise the same. His response was hoarse. "Itachi."

Before either knew it, their arms were suffocating each other after an eternity of separation by life and death. Love and hate once separate came together as a powerful wave of emotion that neither could control within the embrace which brought the estranged brothers back together.

 **Oh, the feels! :') The brothers back together and with so much to catch up on - but how is THAT gonna happen since Itachi is trying to keep up his disguise for the world?**

 _ **Heiwa-sai**_ **translates to mean "peace festival" as stated. :) The importance and decision to make it an important event will be revealed in the next chapter at most, so until then...**


	8. Festivals and Lanterns

Chapter Eight

Festivals and Lanterns

"Brother..."

A soft but calloused face buried itself into the crook of his neck, and a single arm wrapped around his torso. The elder was startled when he felt the stump of the younger's left arm come into contact with his other side. Sasuke had also lost his arm - _so he and Naruto both lost a limb when they fought for the last time. But Sasuke refused to have his healed as payment. He was punishing himself when he saw the error of his ways._

Naruto watched the reunion without a word, letting the brothers have their moment, which Itachi was grateful for. Neither Uchiha saw the faint shine of a tear at the corner of his eye.

He buried his own face into the place where Sasuke's shoulder met his neck. "Sasuke - my little brother."

" _Aniki_ ," the other burst out in spite of his pride, "I thought we'd...parted for good...I spent eight years honoring your memory and bringing myself back to the light taken from me -" Sasuke's hold became tighter and more desperate as if seeking to make sure his brother was real and not an illusion.

 _Yes, that day was supposed to be our last - but fate has us back together again._ "Don't shed tears for me now, Sasuke," he breathed softly. "I am here now, and I am proud of you in a way words cannot describe."

Sasuke raised his face then, showing glazing eyes that refused to let the tears fall. "I'm married now, Itachi," he said hoarsely, "and I have a..." He trailed off then, biting his lower lip to keep from weeping again. Itachi smiled at him tenderly and took his remaining hand into both of his. To any others watching, the moment would look intimate enough to be called incestuous, but it was far from that; this was a reunion between two brothers with a bond like no other, running deeper than any river in the nations and wider than any ocean.

"Yes, you have a child. I am pleased to know you have grown into the man I wanted you to be, _otouto._ "

"Her name is Sarada. She attends the Academy, and she is five years old now. Already at the top of class." The younger chuckled. "She wants to be Hokage someday." Itachi had to laugh. They had just met up once again, and now he was learning that his niece was dreaming of becoming the village leader. But all children were that way. He wanted so much to meet Sarada and get to know her, to see how strong her will was...

Itachi looked deep into his younger brother's eyes and saw the glow within the onyx irises. _He's truly happy...but I still see lingering sadness. Because I was not there to see him reach that joyous point._

"I hope she follows her own path, and not the one we have, _otouto_..."

Sasuke looked at him with a smile reaching his clouded eyes, but before he could respond, the Hokage cleared his throat. "Gentlemen, as heartwarming a reunion this is, I believe we have more important matters at hand now," he said, reassuming the role of great leader.

"Right, Naruto." _So, the drop of the friendship and onward to formalities._ "Whoever brought my brother back -" His remaining hand locked with one of Itachi's, the heated warmth coursing through his flesh and blood, into his nerve channels. It wasn't the way he'd been touched by Hotaka nights ago; it was the rekindled fire that had been lost from their childhood when things had been much happier before he'd been the one to take it all away by orders...

 _I'm not a ninja anymore. I follow no one's orders now._

"We are lacking proof as we are just learning this," Naruto stated, "but we won't assume off the bat it was Orochimaru or Kabuto. I'll send you out as soon as possible so we can investigate. We keep this between the three of us for the time being." He turned his attention back to Itachi. "And Itachi, you are welcome to stay here if you want to." There was a flash across those eyes as he pondered.

He felt Sasuke squeeze his hand. "Brother...is this why you came back here?"

"Yes. I needed the both of you on this. I don't know why I was revived, but I had survived the last month, lived a life of peace I never thought was possible...but I always wondered _why_...and I had planned to return here seeking you and the Hokage's help," he answered. "I want to live again, be given a second chance...but as I am still a criminal in the eyes of the world in my death, it will be impossible to live with you and your family, Sasuke. I found a life back in Kirinono not that far from here." He turned to gaze back at the closed office door where he knew Hotaka was still waiting for him. _My life..._

He suddenly found himself remembering when he first met the man after he arrived in his town with his pack on either side of his being, and how uncertain he'd been when he was offered the position he was in now, and how he learned what it was like to be a civilian instead of a tool for fighting and taking a life. How he began to enjoy life and the simplest aspects rather than keeping an eye out for an approaching enemy, although there were times he had to pull himself out of the temptation to lower his guard.

The gaze in his brother's eyes was combined with sadness and understanding. The message was clear as a crystal: _you're happy,_ nii-san _\- I don't want you to return to this place if you don't want to._

~o~

The banner was everywhere he went as he and Hotaka walked all the way to the inn, with the name of the festival which signified what these times were filled with: **平和祭**

 _Peace...what I wanted. What I always knew I could trust Naruto to bring._

Earlier, he'd wondered if Kakashi Hatake was still around, and he was indeed. He'd been Hokage - the sixth - after Tsunade retired and stepped down, but a year ago, he, too, ended his time and passed it onto Naruto, making the young man's dream a reality. Currently, the Copy Ninja was free-flowing, spending more time with Might Gai and savoring his reading, but sometimes, he offered to help Naruto when needed. _Suppose he's still watching over the village, from the shadows..._

 _A true Shinobi protects from the shadows._

Sasuke wasn't a part of any teams or groups anymore; he was solo now, hidden like the ANBU and going out when the Hokage directly ordered him. It gave him the freedom he deserved, but suppose another called it close scrutiny to make sure he didn't betray the village again - just as the old clan had once been.

"Well, that went well," Hotaka said lightly as they walked arm in arm down the streets, waving and smiling at any they passed by. Luck was on their side when they passed by the tea shop and decided to take a break. When he "helped" Itachi sit down, he called to the kind woman with a brunette bun, apron and thin lips for her special green tea and the tri-colored dumplings. "Early birthday treat as I promised," his companion said happily, then leaned back and stretched his bones and muscles, sighing with relief. "Ah, that's been a hell of a travel, was it not?"

"Indeed." Itachi chuckled and adjusted his bandage over his eyes. Why did he feel the need to suddenly tear this wretched thing off, now that a few more people saw him because they knew him?

It appeared he no longer felt the need for secrecy now. He longed to tear this guise off and join the rest of the world without fear, with the need to be a man with needs and wants that he should choose by his own hand instead of having someone else do it for him. Without another to step in and force him to bow down. And so many other things he no longer wanted...

"Your brother was quite the character," Hotaka said in a low voice, in case anyone heard them and pieced together the "blind man's" identity. "Except I wish we were there longer so we could get to know each other."

Itachi sighed. "Sasuke isn't the type to open up to new people." _Yes, he hasn't changed a bit in that regard._ When he and the older man were about to leave the Hokage Tower, it came as no surprise when Sasuke gave the man his signature "hn" and left them alone. Not even a friendly word of "make sure my brother is happy" - but Itachi never asked for that from his brother. But if Sasuke used his eyes and that one single glance given, then Hotaka knew to do just that.

Right now, Itachi had his time to look at the man across the table from him and felt the light fluttering within his stomach. It was a feeling that continued to grow since the night they kissed. He'd known him for over a month, and while he would never compare him to Shisui, it was as if Fate had spoken without words that she wanted him to have another with the heart and soul of his best friend. It wasn't just friendship he was feeling; it was something more. The night they kissed and he told him the true story had taken off the weight from his shoulders. He could still feel the kiss, he burned below his waist despite not having what a man should, and he wanted _more._

Hotaka thanked the waiter for the arrival of the green tea while the dumplings were still being made. "And the Hokage himself - I very much would enjoy a day of tea and sushi at my house if I would have," he said with a chuckle, taking a sip. "It's a pity we didn't stay longer for that, either. And to become Hokage at a young age, a year ago at that..."

"He's a busy man, but I'm sure there will be a time for that," Itachi told him softly, inhaling the aroma before bringing the sweet beverage to his lips. _Tomorrow, the festival. He is sure to attend._

 _And tomorrow, I will approach him and ask him for the meaning of this event if not for the fact the war was won. And why it had to begin on my birthday of all days._

Consciously, he reached out and took the other man's hand into his own. Hotaka looked down briefly but smiled and didn't draw the appendage back. His fingers closed around Itachi's and kept it close. The tea house wasn't packed, but there were people which made it likely someone would turn and watch, so the younger man did the initiative to draw his hand back in time for the dango to arrive. The burn in his veins remained even as he picked up the first stick and began to nibble on the first sweet ball, moaning at the delicacy and how the day had gone his way.

Little did he realize the noise he made attracted the older man's attention and stirred his nether regions despite the families and couples around them. What a "wrong" time for that.

~o~

It was when night fell that Itachi decided to make his move.

That night happened to be a couple hours before midnight, before his birthday would strike, and he would have been twenty-nine years old if he had lived.

And tomorrow night, he and his group would stand before the entire village and the Hokage himself, while he poured his soul out with the bamboo flute currently in his lap. The one Hotaka gave to him in what felt like long ago when he was accepted despite being a complete stranger. He had not had the chance to tell Naruto or Sasuke this, but he would surprise them both. He would do the same to Sasuke's family - _my sister-in-law, my niece_ \- if he ever happened across them.

Amidst lanterns and fireworks...deity and creature sculptures...weapons of olden and wartimes...finery and masks...

A night of opulence and splendor surrounding one community.

When he thought about the festival, he let a happy tune escape into the air, exciting the attention of the wolves who howled softly to the air, until the neighbor next door shouted at him to keep it down. He quickly ended the song and motioned for his furry companions to hush with him. _Never doing that again. Not until tomorrow night._ Nevertheless, he smiled when he laid back and put the instrument in his lap again. Shiranui whimpered and jumped onto the bed to lay his head on Itachi's chest. Itachi scratched the back of the beast's neck.

A sudden knock on the door startled him and the wolves. Shiranui and Ryujin growled when they stood at attention. Silently and warily, Itachi slid off the bed, wearing his plain white _yukata_ that slid off one shoulder and exposed a nipple - by accident and unaware - as he softly padded towards the door of his room. Hotaka, his brother and Kichiro had a room of their own whilst Isao and his son had their own, leaving Itachi alone with the wolves since the other men - not his friend and housemate - weren't exactly confident in the beasts' presence among them. Which left him with his friends since he could make his way around with or without them.

Fumio was starting to see something was up with him, with "Ryuu", but his father shook his head and told him that sometimes a blind person could survive based on instinct and not their sight. "Not all of them have to be around others and rely on their shoulders for help, my boy," Itachi heard him say, which made him smile to himself. Even Hotaka noticed the young man was catching on.

"Don't worry," he assured Itachi softly. "He won't find out, if you are at a safe distance. He's tolerated you thus far, and he does not usually stick his nose into others' business."

Itachi closed his eyes. If Fumio found out that he'd kept so many secrets, then he was good as doomed as predicted.

The door was knocked on again, which made him assume that the inn manager was here regarding the "noise" that was his flute and the howling of the wolves, when it was only Hotaka. He breathed a sigh of relief and stepped aside to let the man in. "Thought I was someone else, did you?" Hotaka chortled, petting the male wolves' heads. The mother herself and the pups had passed out after a long day of traveling.

"Yes, the neighbors heard me and the animals," Itachi confessed, stifling his laughter and bringing the man over to sit on the lounge before the small fireplace. "I should have waited until tomorrow, but I couldn't." He noticed the forlorn gaze in dark eyes. "How is your brother?"

Hotaka sighed and leaned back. "Tsuneo has had more pains. Thankfully, this place has a medical room, so we were given the medication he needed temporarily. He's resting now, and Kichiro will watch over him for me." He then looked from the small fire back to Itachi. "I have been thinking..." He leaned over but remained a good distance away. Itachi swallowed, having the feeling what this was about. He saw this as his opportunity to make his move, but what if the other man wasn't eager? Last time, they kissed a few times, but that was as far as they'd gone.

He had to delay this and instead focus on the man whose brother's condition was worse instead of better. "Thinking about what? That your brother might last while we are here?" he asked, earning a sad twinkle of the eyes.

The soft laugh he received was without humor. "I suppose you were right after all, my boy," Hotaka answered, leaning over at the same time, before his eyes fell to Itachi's lap. "Though, I still can't help but feel we will be struck swiftly when he leaves in midst of the festivities. I don't think I could bear losing him in this time..."

 _Tsuneo has prolonged his life via medication, just as I did so Sasuke would defeat me. He's done so for what purpose other than to live for his elder brother who loves him as much as I love mine?_

"But at least he did not collapse as I promised you - and even if it does happen, then he will be surrounded by people who genuinely care about him."

The man smiled. "Yes, he would." His face inched closer. "Itachi, as happy as I am that you care enough about my brother, I didn't come here just because of that." But then his face fell.

"However, I might be pushing my limits again."

"You're talking about that night," Itachi whispered, breathing softly against the elder's lips, making him shiver audibly at the warm breath on his skin. "I have been wondering the same."

The fire reflected off dark eyes. "I had feared I was taking advantage of you. I have not been with another since I lost my wife - and I have never been with a man before, either," he confessed, "and you have been with no one. You were deprived of such pleasure in a cruel world that you should never have endured since an innocent young age." _It was a time of war...but you are right. Except it_ did _happen. There is no sense dwelling on what could have been. I am here right now, in front of you, and my brother is outside these walls...and I know just where to find him again._

"I grew up even then," Itachi said, his throat hoarse to his own ears. "You shouldn't think of me as pure and innocent even though my body is, even in death. I never had a real childhood, I never married and had children of my own. All I knew was the way of the ninja, and if my clan had been alive to this day, I would have wed for political means and extending the Sharingan bloodline. I never would have found myself where I am right now. This is something my kin never took as lightly as many would." He closed his eyes. His inner self was telling him that the old Uchiha ways were gone, that he was free to do _this_ now, and with a man who would be close to his father's age - but did that really matter?

He remembered the words from not even three nights ago.

 _"I do it because I care about you. You need the slightest amount of joy. You have had enough suffering in a lifetime. You gave so much; the least you can do is let someone else give you something in return without making you feel that you have to pay them back. Like this..."_

And just like that, Itachi Uchiha dropped all of his barriers and leaned in to capture Hotaka's lips with his own once again.

All thoughts ceased, and both men could think of only one thing.

Itachi found himself picked up and carried like a bride over to the bed. The wolves sensed what was going to happen and hurriedly joined the female and pups outside the bedroom to give the men their personal space.

The pressure in his groin became powerful to the point of intolerable. His nerve bundles thrashed within, begging for another's touch. He moaned when his partner began to kiss and nibble on his exposed neck and shoulder, then moved down to do the same to the nipple there. Itachi's gasp became a harsh moan at the sensitive bud of flesh being ravished, adding more pressure to his body. The power within his loins was raging infernally. "Ngh, please!" he uttered, unable to control himself. How was it that his body was so sensitive against his control?

 _I have never done this before._

He closed his eyes and let Hotaka do all the work, as he had more experience. Just let his body give in - that was what he would do. Itachi felt, rather than saw, his robe being opened with each kiss and lick of his flesh revealed, his muscles traced, and that talented tongue neared his most precious spot...

"My Kami, Itachi, how did this happen to you?!"

His eyes snapped open, Sharingan against onyx, with horror when he realized what the man was talking about. His manhood had been revealed - or lack of it. The smooth, sensitive V-shape between his legs was opened for Hotaka to see. His secret had been let out. Those wide, wise eyes took in the missing genitals, the lack of pubic hair, and the beginning of the slit that ran to the back. Quickly, Itachi closed his legs and sat up with haste, pulling his robe over himself and curling up on his side, turning his back to Hotaka.

"Don't look...I'm..." _Hideous. Abominable._

"You're what? No, you're not disgusting. How did this happen?"

Itachi shook his head. "I don't know. I awoke in the coffin and saw myself like this." His stomach rolled with bile threatening to rise. "You may leave me if you wish..."

"No!" He let himself be turned over so he looked into kindly, understanding older eyes. "No, Itachi, that's nothing." He pushed the _yukata_ aside and exposed Itachi's naked body again, smiling down as if he was the most beautiful thing ever. Suddenly, the younger man didn't feel so self-conscious anymore. "Was this what you have been hiding from me besides your eyes this whole time?" Itachi bit his lip, which meant he didn't have to answer, and Hotaka knew that. Chuckling, he kissed Itachi tenderly on the lips. "We can still make this work."

"How?" Itachi's brows furrowed before it dawned on him that because he wasn't a woman, there was one other place. Hotaka's hands gently turned him over onto his stomach, removing his robe the rest of the way off. Itachi lay completely naked, his back and rear end exposed for his soon-to-be lover's eyes. He had never felt so exposed to another in an intimate manner before. He didn't mind being nude, but this...

The sooner he felt his partner's hands and lips caressing and massaging every inch of his being, he moaned and let himself give in. "This is going to hurt," Hotaka warned him. "Are you ready for this?"

"I trust you," Itachi answered, groaning when he felt slicked fingers slide into his inner muscles and began to explore and stretch him. It was so alien, but so intoxicating. No one ever touched him there before. His entrance was so sensitive it shot to his groin, increasing the jolts of his nerves. Both fingers would soon be replaced by something else, and he tried to prepare himself whilst enjoying the feeling at the same time. He waited so long, in his previous life and now for something like this.

 _I want to feel more alive than I ever was._ By this time, Hotaka was done preparing him and allowed him to roll back over so they could have eye to eye contact during this. The worry was evident in the other man's eyes. "I don't want to hurt you, Itachi."

"I've endured pain of all kinds before. This is nothing." It wasn't long before he felt something blunt and thick prod at his altar where his sweetest place lay, ready to blossom from pink to red with full-fledged manhood and love. The mere thought caused his heartbeat to amplify tenfold. The one who would make him into a man was the one who showed him what it was like to live without fear, death and duty. With that being said, Itachi gave his hips a light thrust against the other's - Hotaka was still mostly clothed while every inch of himself was revealed for the other's eye - and the stiff heat of flesh breached his virgin barrier.

It was difficult to keep his vocal cords on a low level when his body was overcome with a rapturous fire that washed over him and his lover.

~o~

Last night with Hotaka had been the best, if somewhat painful, of his life. _I still feel sore...but that is expected from a virgin._ Or should he say virgin no longer? Itachi Uchiha had never felt so...alive. It felt so good he wanted more. And tonight, on his birthday and the first night of the Peace Festival, he felt even moreso.

The festival was as predicted: fireworks and children dancing around with sparks. Many of the people wore luxurious kimonos and the women with their long hair finely set with chopsticks, some wearing honoring geisha makeup.

The lanterns overhead, strung along the streets and over the crowds, gave the area an eerie but vivid glow of orange and gold, sometimes red and white - which reminded Itachi of the Uchiha crest. And speaking of Uchiha, when he stood on the stage with his new lover and the rest of the crew, all in lush kimonos, he found himself looking down and seeing the Hokage with his family - his wife being Hinata Hyuuga, and they had a son and daughter - along with their friends and comrades, smiling and enjoying the guests who came tonight and for the next week to come. But one family stood out that Itachi truly paid attention to.

Sasuke in a plain black and gray robe was with his wife, who was in a sweet pink and red kimono with cherry blossoms and red camellias, and she was holding up a mini lantern like the other women in the crowd. Their daughter, Sarada, was dancing with the rest of the children with sprinklers while the happy flute and drums filled the air as a silent tribute to Itachi... _happy birthday to me._

His brother looked at him with a genuine happy smile that his _aniki_ found a purpose instead of being a Shinobi again because of the pain he'd suffered, but when Itachi looked at Naruto who tried to make him feel such, the elder Uchiha could not help but recollect the mixed emotions when he discovered the true meaning of the _Heiwa-sai._

 **If anyone was startled by the love scene, please don't be. It was time, and for those who expected it, I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did. (blushes and fans self) Itachi has finally reached another part of his journey: a new relationship as well as sexual awakening. More to come.**

 **Uh oh...what could Itachi be having "mixed emotions" about regarding the purpose of the festival? Find out in the next chapter.**

 **The song Itachi played solo and then at the festival is "Japanese Festival", composed by none other than Derek and Brandon Fiechter. :D Beautiful and happy. It also worked itself into the chapter title along with another piece called "Japanese Lanterns".**

 **Review, please. :D No flamers.**


	9. One Family Under the Sun

**Chapter title this time around comes from a line in the song "We Are One". I don't know who sings it, but there is a YouTube video for the Uchiha brothers and it is one of my all-time favorites.**

Chapter Nine

One Family Under the Sun

Another thrust and explosion of fiery pleasure that made him break out into a sweat, the heat stronger than that of the roaring fires and the lights that had been on him and the group, and his shorter hair sticking to his scalp. He felt unrestrained, making his own music that didn't come from the flute, nor was this solo - this was with a partner, a man who genuinely cared about him.

 _Who'd have thought last night would turn us both into_ this _?_

He rode his partner in his bed at the inn like there was no tomorrow. If anyone was watching from the shadows, they would see only his silhouette instead of the man beneath him, taking in the sculpted, lean muscles of his back and the flexing of his pale, toned buttocks which was grasped by the one who helped him guide his movements. He grunted and thrusted again, his flesh and muscles quivering under those hands. His heart hammered wildly against the inside of his breastbone. His inner muscles swallowed up the thick, pulsing length of flesh within his hot cavern, illuminating the outside of his pelvis.

Hotaka's eyes were closed as he moaned and threw his head back. His chest, well-built and hairless like his own, heaved and shone with perspiration and every breath he took at his lover's desperate pounds. "I-Itachi..." One of his hands left one of the Uchiha's cheeks and caressed a hip as well as the sensitive corner of the inside before tracing the outline and smooth surface of his pubic region. Itachi's jaw slackened as a moan of his own escaped his throat. His nipples became harder than little pebbles in no time at the outside of that beautiful place being grasped.

His pace increased to the point where he might shatter.

"Oh, gods...!" He was on top of the universe with this man connected to him below their bodies, nothing else mattering but the two of them. He wouldn't be surprised if the poor pack outside could hear _everything_ that escaped their lips. But it wasn't like the mates themselves were not familiar with these rituals.

Speaking of which, what would happen now that he and Hotaka were...together? It had only been a night and day, and they didn't even begin to talk about the future, or if it would affect their group. True, there was a father and son, and two brothers - but a _couple?_

 _Relationships of the kind are often warned to never get into line of duty. But we are mature and reasonable...can we try to make it work?_

Itachi's sweet-spot was struck then and there, making him throw his head and sweat-soaked hair back, forgetting for the moment it was no longer the length it used to be: long enough to reach the end of his back. Hotaka knew where to strike him with expertise, and he was just learning where to find it himself. Itachi was a fast-learner.

He whimpered when his quivering insides clenched as he felt his peak near. He couldn't climax like Hotaka or any other man, but last night when he gave his virginity to the older man, his core erupted with a throb and a sizzle that lingered post-coital. _Fate had a cruel, sneaky hand to take this part of my masculinity away - but she blessed me with pleasure beyond my imagination._ His chest muscles clenched painfully as he tightened around his partner, his abdominals doing the same when the hand caressing his pubic bone moved upwards to worship him there.

When he reached his end, his inner muscles were washed with seed. When this was over, he would fall asleep and wake up with the sticky feeling down his thighs like last night, only this time would be no blood involved.

And how wonderful was it to feel the seed of your lover filling you and then remnants leaking down your legs as visible proof of what transpired?

Itachi relaxed and removed himself from Hotaka, laying down on the man's chest and wrapping his arms around the upper body, his own being embraced, as well. He laughed with his lover over how tonight had gotten much better than last night, and not much time had passed at all. Nothing was planned; it all came naturally with the other's consent. Itachi closed his eyes and relished his lover's heartbeat as he slowly succumbed to slumber.

~o~

 _His_ otouto _was standing under a tree outside the village, not many yards away. Sasuke's eyes were closed, at peace, as if meditating. He opened them upon sensing his brother's presence._

 _"I'm glad you could come."_

 _"How could I not?" the elder replied with a smile. He had donned his bandage for guise once more, now carrying his staff. The day was drawing to an end in more than an hour. The delicate sky colors blanketed them with heavenly shades. "The brothers of the Uchiha deserve more time to talk today." And to get to the bottom of one such matter..._

 _Sasuke shifted his position, switching one crossed leg over the other. He was standing against the tree, leaning back and tilting his head upwards, inhaling the air. "You really wish to know what is going on, starting tomorrow,_ nii-san. _"_

 _Itachi remained where he was standing when he answered. "I know for a fact it is not because a great victory was won after my death," he stated. "It cannot be merely a coincidence that the first day happens to be my birthday...is it not, Sasuke?" He reached up to raise the bandage so the other Uchiha could see his eyes._

 _Sasuke's expression remained unchanged. "Your name has been cleared, brother."_

 _A horrific silence arose between the siblings - before the elder broke out like the storm. He dropped his cane and stalked forward to stand before the calm younger._

 _"Sasuke, how could you do this?! How could you expose our tainted family name like this - and Naruto promised he would never reveal the Uchiha this way! By doing this, I have broken my vow to Shisui and everything I sacrificed for you and our village!"_

 _"Itachi -" Sasuke gritted his teeth. "- our clan has lived in the shadows for too long. Naruto made the right choice in letting the truth out after so many years..."_

~o~

Opening his eyes to dawn, Itachi allowed a small smile to show when he roused from the memory of his meeting with his brother, in the arms of his lover. The wolves remained sleeping outside. But despite the joy of knowing that in two more days, their group would perform once again, Itachi dwelled once more on what transpired between him and Sasuke...

...and the fact that the festival was brought to life in HIS honor.

He was proclaimed a true hero of Konoha - the hero who slaughtered his traitorous people, spared one he loved, to prevent civil war and chaos - yet he took the fall for the sake of protecting the late Lord Third, the treacherous Danzo and the counselors. Both Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado were quietly asked to retire as soon as Shikamaru Nara discovered and brought this to the Hokage's - then Kakashi Hatake - attention.

 _A hidden sealed scroll, detailing the account of the Elders, once owned by Danzo himself..._

 _Naruto promised he would never let the Uchiha clan's name be stained by its corrupt nature._

 _Shisui...I failed you. I betrayed my best friend and all we wanted._

For this, Itachi could not stop the tear and the agonizing sobs that made his body sore and numb. His trembling awoke his lover beneath him. His weeping became uncontrollable to the point Hotaka's arms tightened around his body and pulled him closer to his own.

"Itachi-kun, what is it?" Hotaka asked tenderly, placing a kiss on the side of his face, then frowned when he felt and tasted the tear that slid down his cheek from the corner of his eye. "Oh, don't weep. Does this have to do with what your brother told you?" He had to ask despite the fact he already knew. Itachi closed his eyes and turned his face further into the pillow beneath his head.

"I betrayed Shisui," he said in despair. "I broke my solemn vow to him; this never should have happened..."

He felt his partner's body shift so he hovered further over the younger man. His tone instantly became harsh despite what transpired last night. "A life of living a lie for the sake of others who never truly appreciated you, compared to a few who actually do?" he spat. "To lose everything you should have had during wartime, and afterwards having to be used as a pawn in others' plans? What the hell kind of life is that - and do not say it's the duty of a Shinobi!" He quickly lowered his voice, not wishing to ruin the mood. He sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. I don't want us to go through this again, Itachi."

"Nor do I," the Uchiha agreed, removing his face from the pillow with the need to breathe.

"Now, what happened? One of the Hokage's best found _it_ within old ANBU records that belonged to one of those who exploited your love for your village. And did Naruto go back on his word that he made for you? No, but when this was revealed and the proof was discovered, it was done justly. But do you hear a vile word about the Uchiha being spoken?" He chuckled. "I did not hear one nasty thing about your brother and his family, and if there was something foul about the old clan, then they must have common sense to not say a word."

 _For a man with no experience I have, but all the wisdom of being alive for a long time..._

"I still have broken my promise to Shisui."

A hand grasped his shoulder, gently forcing him to lay on his back and look up at him. Hotaka's face was firm as his voice. "You did keep that promise. If I believe in an afterlife and the fact he must have watched over you all this time, then he knew you better than I do. He won't hold you to a fault. In fact, he knows you have done your part. How many before me have told you that you've done enough, hmm?" With that, he leaned down and pressed his lips against Itachi's.

Warm pleasantry washed over Itachi, with a few lingering doubts remaining. He wanted so much to accept this, to go to Naruto and tell him that he no longer felt the need to owe him, that he thanked him for the trust he placed regarding Sasuke - and now...

"Please, Itachi, think about this: no more burdens to carry. This goes beyond the extension I had to carry in half my life, and my brother with his baggage now."

Itachi threw his arms around his lover and pulled him down for another kiss, followed by another round filled with the emotion that intensified the atmosphere. Another round of lovemaking before they joined the others for breakfast and then practice - and then he would quietly sneak away to see his brother again. He had so much to say to Sasuke, so much of his heart to spill and free more of himself from the invisible chains of the past...and then he would meet the rest of his family before he would lose his chance.

~o~

The last time he saw and spoke to his brother was only two days ago, and Hotaka took him that afternoon to see the Hokage merely to ask for Sasuke's whereabouts. Naruto politely told him that he would be at home with his wife, and then told him where the Uchiha family lived.

The air was a gentle breeze that whispered through his hair, in which he remembered Sasuke noting during their meeting under the tree, even allowed him to run his fingers through when they embraced.

 _"You cut your hair,_ aniki. _"_

 _"To disguise myself, other than hiding my eyes."_

 _And you carry my eyes now, Sasuke..._ He half-smiled to himself.

Hotaka stood beside him once more, and Shiranui on his other. "Are you absolutely sure you wish to do this?" his lover asked softly. "Suppose his wife fainted if she knew you were alive and saw your eyes..." Itachi only turned his head halfway and smiled the same way.

"I doubt she will," he replied sincerely, lowering his staff forward by an inch. "If Sasuke had to have married an irrational woman, then he's a fool that I used to call him." As soon as he finished talking, the door opened, and there stood his brother with a distant but happy smile because he'd arrived. He gave Hotaka a nod and then chuckled when he glanced down at the wolf, knowing he was his elder brother's friend. He knelt down then and there, the beast rumbling in his throat as he accepted a scratch behind the ears. While he did, Itachi took note of the halfway-removed stump of his brother's left arm, still mildly disturbed that he never bothered to have it healed properly. His wife was a med-nin, was she not? Surely she must look at it every now and then, thinking the same thing he must be...

And speaking of which, there she stood in her red dressing gown, looking at him and his partner with a curious eye before it broke out into a broad, sweet smile, and she walked over, stepping past her kneeling husband and extended her hand - and displayed an incredible ring of gold set with a round gemstone the color of the skies above. Her name was Sakura, which Itachi thought was befitting. He took her hand and placed a brief kiss out of respect, and Hotaka followed after praising her loveliness, making her blush and her husband look up with a joking roll of the eyes before standing to push his wife's hand back to her side.

"Mama? Papa? Who are they?"

Itachi felt his breath hitch at the sound of the voice behind them. There stood the child. Sarada was a comely little one with her father's hair and eyes, set within her mother's features, and she was in a cute little buttoned sweater over a proper schoolgirl's blouse and skirt. And she wore _glasses,_ which made him frown and wonder if she'd awoken her Sharingan and had sudden trauma or something damaging to a child her age...

"Sarada, this is Hotaka. And this is your uncle...Itachi. My older brother."

She looked back and forth between the men with wide eyes, curious and suspicious in one - before her smile widely reached ear to ear. She walked up then and hugged Hotaka, making him laugh, despite the fact he was a stranger, and her mother heartily laughed and patted the back of her head. The girl then let him go and focused her attention on the other man - him, her _uncle._ She swallowed then, nervous as she never thought she'd meet another relative. "You're...Uncle Itachi?" she asked.

Something inside him cracked when he looked into those eyes, full of intelligence and promise. He wondered if she would be as strong as her parents one day as he wanted to believe. With a smile, Itachi knelt down on one knee. "Yes, Sara-chan, I'm your uncle. It's an honor to finally meet you." With that, he reached out and gently prodded her forehead with his index and middle finger. In response, she squealed and drew back, rubbing her forehead. Both her parents laughed and leaned on each other.

"Aw, Papa does that to me every now and then!" she protested with a cute pout on her face, like her father used to do when he was her age.

 _He adopted the forehead poke from me...my_ otouto.

Itachi closed his eyes behind his bandages and was tempted to shed more tears. He reached out with both arms, and she came running into them. Sasuke and Sakura soon joined them, crouching down and sharing the joy of a family reunion.

The sun shone down on them all as the newfound Uchiha family came together with Hotaka and the wolf watching them in comfortable silence.

 **I didn't think I'd have Itachi be pardoned even in his death, but I'd read "Courtship" by Murasaki Hana, and over halfway through what is already there (the story is far from finished) - and one such surprising detail was a secret written scroll that the Elders had the truth on the Uchiha massacre, which Sakura had found out without their knowledge - and a disguised Itachi insists she NEVER tell the village, for obvious reasons. Given in my fic "The Beast's Flower", he was cleared and eventually became Sixth Hokage when he was willingly imprisoned and was going to be interrogated by Ibiki and the team, but then Konohamaru Sarutobi found his grandfather's journal - which sealed Itachi's fate. I'd struggled to do something different this time around, so what better than a sealed away scroll account thanks to Murasaki Hana? :) My boyfriend was much in agreement.**

 **I'm in tears at how this story is turning. :') And even more thanks to those with support and feeling what I am. You won't be disappointed with more coming up. Reviews ALWAYS welcomed.**


	10. Deterioration

**Nearly completed a new fic, "Boo! An Akatsuki Halloween", and it's a great combination of horror and comedy thanks to a movie I saw recently. (laughs with tears) Be prepared for things to take a turn now...**

Chapter Ten

Deterioration

If there was anyone in the old Uchiha clan he'd loved most, both his mother and brother had been so.

Now, he had a sister-in-law and a niece to add.

Sarada was more than he expected, for she was already mastering shuriken better than her father had. He was seeing this in the old training grounds that once were where he trained himself - and Sasuke. He found himself kneeling behind the trees, behind the very same spot young Sasuke once crept behind to watch his big brother activate his Sharingan and find every target - and take his younger brother by surprise with the extra kunai that the average Shinobi wouldn't think about.

 _"Wow, Itachi, you nailed every target - even the one in the blindspot behind the rock! Alright, now it's MY turn!"_

 _"No, Sasuke, it's time to go."_

 _"What happened to the new shuriken jutsu you promised to teach me, huh?"_

 _"It'll have to wait. I have an important mission in the morning, and I need to prepare for it."_

 _"...you're such a big, fat liar."_

Itachi sighed softly to himself as he remembered that one special moment - special in his heart. And being amused when Sasuke pouted at his forehead being poked for "next time". But his brother _wanted_ him to teach him; their separate lives - ANBU, his clan's schemes, and Sasuke's academy studies - prevented their precious time together.

 _"We're not going to have as much free time to ourselves anymore."_

 _"That's okay...as long as you still get to spend time with me once in a while."_

 _Some words are easier said than done. You hated the fact that Father paid less attention to you, but you couldn't tell me yourself...and yet you still wanted to be like me. You still thought I was your perfect_ aniki. He closed his eyes, swelling within from both the memories and the little girl in front of him who was breathing heavily as she gazed up at her targets made.

There had been nine targets - but she missed a couple to the middle section. Not to put her down, but she was only five, so she could not be completely perfect yet. The pout on the child's face was priceless, so much like her father.

"No fair," he heard her mutter. "I want to get better to be just like Uncle Naruto..."

 _She looks up to Naruto._

 _She sees him important...she compliments him more than she does her own father._

A part of Itachi broke and crumbled before he remembered that she didn't know he, her uncle, existed until only yesterday when he showed up at her family's doorstep. She looked defeated, falling to her knees before drawing them up to her chest and looking ahead at nothing in particular. He frowned, contemplating going up to her and comforting her before he sensed another presence behind him. He chuckled softly and pet Shiranui's forehead, the moist snout butting against his cheek. "My friend, she's brilliant, isn't she?" The wolf looked at him with knowing crystalline eyes and growled softly. "You can't expect her to excel so quickly at such a young age, or to be completely perfect."

 _No one is ever truly perfect, no matter our age. We do the BEST we can._

Then he heard her say the next bit which confirmed his thoughts. "I wish Papa saw me get better..." She sighed sadly and looked down at the ground ahead of her.

He felt his face contort into sheer shock at the shine of the tear rolling down her cheek. Sarada Uchiha, his brother's daughter, his _niece_ , was CRYING. He looked to his side when his furry companion whimpered as he, too, sensed the young girl's disappointment in herself. Half of him wanted to scold her and drill it into her that a Shinobi never sheds a tear, that the beginning and onward was about making mistakes and learning from them, but she hadn't grown up as he had, forced into the ranks at the delicate age he'd been just before she was now.

 _She was born in a time of peace; I was never lucky. I was bred to preserve what Sasuke and the others had only for a short time. She will NEVER know to do this..._

Itachi watched his furry friend leave their hiding place and trot over to the girl who still sat in the same spot. When she saw him, she took off her spectacles and wiped her eyes before offering a small smile. "H-hi, Sh-Shiranui," she said, remembering off the bat. She had yet to meet the rest of the beast's family, and the group would have to stay less than two more weeks, giving him more time to be with his family. Hotaka was just getting warmed up to his brother and sister-in-law, though Sasuke remained like the "elder" Uchiha remembered, in which he engaged in conversation only when spoken to. Sakura didn't seem to mind as she was used to this from her husband.

Did that also mean she was used to NOT having him home often as he should be?

Itachi remembered when he had to watch over Sasuke while their parents would be away for reasons regarding Mikoto's mother or a clan meeting, et cetera, and he cherished those times with his baby brother, but the times were different now. Was he still so unsure about himself that he distanced himself from his family?

He ought to talk to Sasuke about this, _alone._

Seeing his young niece being licked and nuzzled by his companion made him smile; Shiranui was licking Sarada's tears for her...but it made him shrivel. He was her uncle. He was supposed to comfort her, not sit by in the shadows and the trees, letting another do the deed. Still wearing his bandages as he did not trust himself to not scare her, he stood and walked over to the duo, clearing his throat and getting their attention. She looked startled at his appearance, but smiled, and his friend growled softly.

"Sara-chan, a real Shinobi does not shed tears over defeat," he said with a hearty chuckle, kneeling before her so they were eye-level. "I admit you have grown strong thus far, but you have ways to go, and the point is to push yourself - but not going over your limit. And if you let your self-doubt take over, all is lost."

Her gaze fell. "I'm sorry."

"A simple 'sorry' is good, but it won't be enough." He did not mean to be harsh on her, but this had to be the start for her, not from her instructors at the Academy - but from a long-lost blood relative who had been a great Shinobi long before she was born. Her parents did not tell her about him because she wasn't old enough. She would not bear the darkness of her heritage until she was at the stage of Chuunin, albeit wise enough to withstand the burden of her lineage.

Itachi saw that he'd only made himself out to be one of the relics of the past, when he saw the light pain in her eyes, and he softened only by an inch. Giving her a small smile, he raised his index and middle fingers, gently poking her in the forehead. That made her face light up as she brought a hand to that place.

"Your father must be proud that you are getting better," he told her, but her face reverted back again, making him furrow his brows.

Her voice was inaudible. "Papa is hardly home. Mama and Uncle Naruto tell me he's making sure the village is safe, and I want to believe it...but it's too hard. I sometimes feel like he doesn't care, Uncle Itachi. I don't know how to feel about myself because of this. I want to be Hokage someday like Uncle Naruto."

 _She wants to be like the one who saved the village because her father isn't the role model she feels she deserves. She thinks lowly about herself because of Sasuke. In so many ways...she is like her father. If things keep going in this direction, she may one day fall down his path of self-wallow._ "Sarada, just because your father is absent doesn't mean you ought to sink into depression," he said softly, taking her gently by both shoulders. "You have the Will of Fire we've all possessed since our earliest ancestors before the founding of this village. You've been taught the Will of Fire, haven't you?" She nodded, and his smile broadened. "Then know this: you choose your path, but it's riddled with blood, sweat and tears. Nothing is handed to you for free, and there always will be people who give you difficult times -" _Father, the clan, Madara, Danzo, Koharu and Homura, and others._ "- but there will also be those you trust to help you on the right path."

 _Shisui, the Third Hokage, Naruto..._

"You're so...wise, Itachi-oji," Sarada breathed finally, gazing at him in awe. "And wiser than Uncle Naruto." She giggled softly before throwing herself at him. He stiffened before wrapping both arms around her waist and keeping her close. Shiranui looked at them with icy blues that blinked only once. He saw his own reflection in those pure irises, seeing the narrow white fabric that hid his own which he feared would send this innocent child into an incurable nightmare.

"I've endured the Shinobi way beyond the limits your father, uncle and any of their friends have done. I've gone above and beyond to make sure innocent children like yourself and your father - when he was your age - had what I had been deprived of then."

She pulled back and looked at him with scrutinizing onyx eyes, her nose wrinkling in curiosity. "What happened to you?" she questioned. He sighed, lowering his gaze to the ground between them.

"Something far worse than you'd be told now. What I am sure your parents have good reasons for keeping from you."

~o~

Itachi found it in himself to make way for the old Uchiha compound, stunned to find it no longer in existence along with the rest of the district. When Pain attacked and the village was under reconstruction, the place of a bloody past had been left as though it was best left the way it was: in the past, which he ultimately decided was for the best. Itachi felt the wind pick up as he gazed upon the stoned sealant which was once Nakano Shrine.

 _The various clan meetings._

 _Plotting and scheming._

 _The coup d'état._

 _Where the Uchiha's greatest secrets remain in stone - the Mangekyo Sharingan, the Izanagi and Izanami amongst other horrors..._

Now Itachi Uchiha, one of the last of a nearly extinct but slowly rebuilding people, stood on bare grounds and one of the last remaining relics of the past. _A past to one day long be forgotten. I stand on the lands once belonging to my kin slayed by my hand - an act granted when they decided to betray the village they were a part of. My hands are still stained with their blood, but it was tainted blood..._

 _...all except two. My brother and Shisui._

"I come here sometimes on my own," Sasuke spoke, announcing his presence, coming to stand beside him. "I intend to bring Sarada here when she's older."

"As you should," Itachi replied before becoming firm. "It would appear that despite how stable life seems, she doesn't know her own father."

His brother regarded him with a look that took him back to their final fight. "She needs better than someone of the likes of me in her life. I have a better purpose than to be at home and burdening her with my presence. The best I can do is protect her life, her future and that of this village by being in the shadows as often as I must," Sasuke said harshly. "After I spent months in prison, I let myself be twisted because I wanted you to be pardoned, to hell with our clan's integrity because it was corrupt from the very beginning. I owe the village enough for everything I've done." He turned his face away then and there. The air was thick with the threat of going back to the way they were before: hostile and animalistic.

Itachi heatedly defended his niece with everything he had. He never gave up even if he was asked to. " _Otouto,_ we are not talking about your pity and your wallows. The moment I returned, I saw you happy - but I also saw traces of the sadness I remember. You're still unable to let go of the past. That was what bothered me most: you're still unable to let go. Ever since I awoke again, I have been plagued by the same feelings, but I have not put myself on the same boat as you are now."

"You're pitying me, Itachi?!"

"No," the elder said thickly, turning to gaze at him head-on, raising his bandage to reveal his eyes. He pursed his lips in a line. "I'm merely stating it as it is. Your prolonged absences are a bad influence on your own child. She does not know what to think about herself, and if you remember what I told you and Kabuto: if you don't acknowledge and examine yourself, you are sure to fail. I have told her that today. It seems I was given the task that you and your wife have not given her yet," he said with a heavy swallow.

Sasuke was at a loss for words, but only for a moment. "You're calling me a failure of a father, but a success of a Shinobi," he said bitterly. "Is that it?"

Itachi exhaled sharply. _I wish I could say yes._ "I wish I had the words to answer. Sarada has lit my life up besides you and the others surrounding me now. I will say this once more, Sasuke: she will NOT walk the paths you and I have taken, so I hope that you sit before her and talk to her as I have, show her that you are the one she needs as much as her mother, Naruto and myself." With that, Itachi turned his back to his brother to leave. He had no desire to remain on these grounds - _cleansed but untouched remnants of the past, with no destination for the future_ \- or to bypass the seal and see if the ancient secrets were kept as they were before.

"I won't fail her, _nii-san,"_ Sasuke called out to him. "She is my new hope."

Itachi turned only halfway. "I know." _She is more than the Uchiha's future; she is a blessing to not be taken for granted._ He hoped the thought mirrored through his eyes got to Sasuke. He said no more as he quietly left the site to return to join Hotaka and the others.

~o~

The walk back with Shiranui on his side and his partner on the opposite was tense because Hotaka had also noted the somewhat distance between father and daughter at the Uchiha home. "I wish it could be helped..." the older man began only to be cut off by a wave of the hand.

"Some things are out of our hands," Itachi said softly, holding his hand between their bodies. "Love is simply...difficult."

"Tell me about it. I remember it all crystal clear." Hotaka sighed with great sentiment as he looked back on his first marriage before he'd lost her, and Itachi Uchiha walked into his life. He then looked at Itachi from the corner of his eye. "Speaking of which, I was thinking about how we tell the boys regarding us..."

The other members of their group still did not know about their new relationship, which the Uchiha had still been giving thought. But Itachi didn't want to think about his own needs and wants right now, but his niece and her welfare. "I wish we could, but I think we should for now think about my niece and your brother," he reminded him, getting a fallen expression.

"Yes, you're right...but we must discuss US at a point sooner, don't you think? I'm on the verge of being a completely old man, and you have plenty of time - but that time was lost on you, so nowadays is to make each moment count."

 _Just like I told Sasuke._

When they arrived, they were rushed by a panting Fumio. "Hotaka, your brother -"

Alarm flared within Itachi and appeared on the face of his lover. "Tsuneo - how is he?" Hotaka demanded, rushing past the younger and leaving Itachi with the wolf beside him, which Fumio gazed down at without a hint of emotion, still wary of this beast and his family who were still in the room belonging to this "blind" member of their group.

And the look he gave Itachi...

"Is there something the matter?" he asked, trying to remain pleasant and keeping his composure in check.

"Ryuu...ever since you joined us, I could never tell anyone - even my father - the feeling I had about you," the other man answered, charcoal eyes hardening. "I have certain instincts that detect people's aura at points. I kept my mouth closed for the sake of Hotaka who is like an uncle to me, and he clearly adores you..."

Itachi swallowed the growing fear but tightened his jaw as he "looked" into the other's eyes. "Listen to me. I have nothing to harm against you and our brothers, I assure you. I'd have thought you'd seen that, since I have been a part of you upon arrival." He was interrupted harshly but still softly. Shiranui growled up at Fumio, now seeing him as a threat. "Shiranui, please stay back," Itachi commanded softly, holding up his palm.

"The point I am making is that if you so much as hurt Hotaka in any way, you'll answer to me, got it? I won't tell my father or Kichiro - or even Tsuneo, but that poor man deserves to know that his dear big brother is in a secret affair with one of our own that we don't know about yet," Fumio snapped. "I call it secrecy and deceit."

 _This man - this one I considered one of my trusted colleagues in this life...he suspected me from the beginning and hid it so well until he chose to reveal now of all times. Tsuneo...the man is worse._ His skin grew cold as his heart. _That's why he needs his brother now._

 _Tsuneo has gotten worse today while we were with my family._

He barely dodged Fumio's hand reaching for his eyes when he heard his lover howl his name. He followed Shiranui into the room, seeing Isao and Kichiro standing by somberly, and Hotaka was kneeling beside his brother who lay in bed, paler than before. The signs were clear to the Uchiha who stayed where he was, before placing a hand on the back of the wolf's neck, allowing himself to be taken forward and beside Hotaka who was weeping and holding his _otouto_ 's hand in his.

But Tsuneo was smiling as he looked in the direction of Itachi standing over him. "You and my brother...I wish you both the best," he croaked softly, then spoke to the others. "I have...n-no regrets about my life, only wishing I was alive longer to finish this tour with the lot of you. But I believe in you all."

And with that, he closed his eyes and died peacefully, surrounded by those who cared for him as Itachi had promised his brother. A promise he wished had prolonged, as the man wished, even though it was inevitable and in the hands of the gods.

Itachi felt his cheek burn with a tear, and Shiranui whimpered, laying his head on the bed beside the dead brother of his human companion's lover.

 _Your loss may have been expected; nevertheless, you left too soon._

 **I hope the wait was worth it. Review please. Even if it brings you to tears like it did to me bringing it to life. :(**


	11. Goodbye For Now

**I know you all missed me, and I missed you, so here is the latest. I'd had recent troubles trying to think about how to CAREFULLY proceed after the death of Hotaka's brother, and what happens to Itachi next because of this - and his new problem with Fumio who has shown his true colors now - and about time he proceeded trying to find out who brought him back and WHY...**

Chapter Eleven

Goodbye For Now

Cries were soft but audible. Every man in the room was unable to cope with the loss of the man still in the bed. His brother, with puffy, reddened eyes, reached to clasp his hands over the chest. Isao and his son sat quietly on the sofa, gazing ahead at nothing in particular, and Kichiro had left to get someone to come and collect the body.

Itachi continued to sit on the edge of the bed, his back facing Hotaka who was weeping over his younger sibling's body. _He died in the early days of being with us in this village...the village I have just come back to. The one I once called home, defended at the cost of love and happiness...died for._

 _I come back and rekindle with my family, get to know my sister-in-law and my niece, whom I see one day becoming a powerful Shinobi._

 _Now I witness death before my eyes for a second time in this new life. And this time is my lover's brother. It's like a reversal of the ages, and the time I felt death take me away before Sasuke..._

He closed his eyes, barely feeling Shiranui resting his head in his human's lap. Itachi's hand subconsciously came to rest atop his friend's head, caressing it. He could not find proper words to speak; you could never find the correct words of consolation at any time like this. He ought to not, but his mind was attempting to rationalize this. They might have to return to Kirinono because of the death, and Tsuneo would need to be buried in home grounds, or would he be cremated? He could not ask Hotaka now.

The festival would lose the one traveling performance it had now, but what could be done? _Tsuneo said he regretted leaving us all now at this time; he said that he believed in us all...did he mean he wanted us to go on without him? We are short of one member now._ He quietly let out a breath that began to tighten his lungs. He felt a tear come and slip through the corner of his eye, drenching that section of the bandage over his eyes.

The same bandage Fumio almost snatched to see if "Ryuu Kaze" was as he said he was.

And now that Tsuneo was gone, the time to tell the truth was getting close.

The door opened then and there. Kichiro had returned, and so had a certain familiar face. Itachi kept his face stoic, because Sakura knew he was keeping up a façade, which he felt himself growing weary of in his bones, and she seemed to sense it all from him. Nevertheless, she offered the men in the room a small smile before it was gone, and she knelt beside the dead man opposite of his brother who was wiping his tears.

"I'm so sorry," Sakura said softly to Hotaka, who offered her a small, forced smile in return and nodded once. She then politely asked them all to leave her so she could perform the autopsy, and a handful of med-nins in her staff swarmed in to aid.

"I'm returning to our room," Isao announced, speaking of the one he shared with his son, who nodded but said he was going to have a drink at the bar and asked if any felt like joining. This wasn't for celebration, but just to ease away the hollow feeling that dominated their minds and hearts. Itachi didn't want a drink; he just wanted to go to sleep, and he could see Hotaka didn't feel like it, either.

He caught the look Fumio gave him, but said nothing as he led Hotaka across the hallway, with Shiranui following him.

Ryujin and Amaterasu came up, sensing the tragic atmosphere and whimpered as they joined in nudging the man who had just lost his brother. The older man weakly chuckled and took them both into a small embrace. Itachi watched as he walked over to check on the pups who had grown so much in the past few weeks, learning to walk a little but still had ways to go. It turned out that Sakuya would be the subdued female, but unless provoked, she would attack if she wanted to, and being the only girl in the litter, she fought playfully against her brothers to prove her strength, making him chuckle.

She was currently on Suijin, who was ever the combination of his parents, and the feistiest of the three. He just thought he could take on his sister and prove himself alpha over the eldest, Fujin, who would stand by and watch in amusement. These pups had nothing better to do than to play fight and then nuzzle against each other by the end. Their mother would go over to check on them, then paw at them gently to get their attention. Then they would swarm over her, growling and barking.

The pups then barked and ran over to their uncle and Itachi, both of whom were kneeling before them. Picking up Fujin in particular and holding him against his sternum, he felt warm to his core. He'd been wanting to bring them all to meet Sarada, but now he wasn't sure if the chance would come. Hotaka would want to have his brother's corpse taken care of, and this gig was threatening to be cut short. Itachi could see the festival being cancelled as a result, but a life was more vital, if you asked him...

He looked up and saw his partner going over to the mini bar that was beside the fire. He sighed and half-closed his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"It's nothing to be sorry over, Itachi. We knew it was coming...but it was too soon." The man's voice faltered, and his body visibly trembled, threatening to give way. He nearly dropped the bottle of sake as a consequence.

Drinking never solved problems, only washed them away temporarily. A part of Itachi feared this man would turn to alcoholism. He could not see this man who made him alive and well, whom he was developing feelings for, turning into another man entirely over the loss of his younger brother whom he adored with all his life. Itachi would endure this, but he would also make sure it wouldn't happen.

He stood behind Hotaka and wrapped his arms around the other's waist. "What do you wish to do now, hn?" His heart was slowly hollowing out, but he felt it wouldn't last as long as his lover's would for some time to come. He hadn't been personally close to Tsuneo, but he was vital to his new life as he had been his brother's.

Hotaka's head leaned back, sighing sharply as he melted into the younger's touch. "I don't want to think about this today. I just want to close off from the world for awhile..."

Itachi's lips found their way to the exposed juncture of shoulder and neck, kissing gently, giving the silent suggestion even if it was at an ambiguous time.

~o~

He and Hotaka lay in bed for a good hour before there was a knock on the door. The wolves were on alert, at attention, before Itachi stood and reached for his shirt which lay on the floor just as Hotaka himself redressed as quickly as he could, before going to answer for him. The Uchiha was about to grab his bandages when he recognized Sakura's voice and smiled with relief when he heard the door close after Hotaka let her in.

"Itachi?" she called softly, pulling her long white coat around herself as she stepped further into the room. At the sight of the wolves, her professional shell dropped for a moment, and she laughed softly, kneeling down before them all. "Hello again, Shiranui," she said when the blue-eyed beast went up to nuzzle her, and she was greeted by his brother. "Itachi, who are the rest?"

"This here is Ryujin, the alpha," he answered, joining her in the kneeling position, "and this is Amaterasu, his mate. These little ones are Fujin, Suijin, and Sakuya." He held each of the pups one by one as he introduced them.

She cooed at the little white pup splotched with his father's colors, and he whimpered as he looked up at her. She nuzzled his little wet nose lovingly. "Sarada wanted a pet, because she's seen how one of our closest friends and comrades has his beloved dog, and she has grown fond of him." Her verdant eyes dimmed a little. "But a pet requires so much responsibility..." Itachi faintly remembered Fugaku once saying the same thing to him and Sasuke, but dealing with these magnificent beasts around him, it hadn't been that troubling. _Except they were wild before they found me and took me in, and I never got attached to an animal long enough._

Sakura set Suijin down and looked him in the eyes again. "Itachi, maybe you should know -" She dropped her voice. "- what I found in the body - or rather, what remains - is something that Naruto and Sasuke should know. I'm going to examine it and then bring it to them. Whatever comes of it, I think you'll want to become involved."

He furrowed his brows. She'd found something in Tsuneo's body...why was she telling him this now? _Unless...if she is confiding in me, then it must be a clue to what I have been searching for all this time. It could point to whoever brought me back..._

 _...but WHY would Hotaka's brother be in the middle of this?_

"Sakura, what is this about?" Hotaka asked, having heard parts of the conversation. _Damn it...now he'll want to be involved._ "What did you find in my brother?" He knelt before the two of them. Sakura shook her head sadly.

"That's what I have to find out. In the meantime, you can't breathe a word of this to your friends. If it's what I think it is..."

That was all that was needed to know. Hotaka understood right away and was just showing her to the door. She called goodbye over her shoulder, then reached up to touch Hotaka on the cheek and softly whispered she was sorry for him losing his brother, to which he nodded to, but before he could close the door, he was stormed past by a seething Fumio, and a panicked Kichiro was coming behind him.

Itachi swallowed as he calmly stood up and locked gazes behind his bandage. He smelled and sensed it all in one - even before the venomous words came to light.

"Itachi...Uchiha," Fumio spat, eyes flaring with bloodshot. He'd gotten more drunk than he should have, apparently. "I should have guessed all along."

 _He'd listened outside the door. I should have sensed it myself, but damn it..._

Hotaka recovered himself and glared murderously. "Fumio, boy, what has gotten into you? My brother just died, and you come in here like this -" he said angrily only to be cut off rudely.

"Yes, your brother died, and this man has been lying to us all along. I always smelled it off of him that there was something. I'm always right. Ryuu - no, _Itachi_ ," Fumio hissed, "you owe us an explanation before I get my dad on this."

~o~

The festival was cancelled for the next couple days due to the loss within the gig in town. A memorial service was being held in Tsuneo Yoshida's honor, and his elder brother and best friend - none other than Isao - would lead the services. Today would be that day, but afterwards, the group would take the body back to Kirinono for home burial; tomorrow, they would return for the remainder.

 _This event was first created in honor of me - it should now be taken to remember a man who died amidst men who cherished him. And he never knew the one his elder brother began an...affair with was actually the one who was given this honorable celebration._

The day was beautiful, but it had no power to control the aura surrounding the small gathering in the forest not many yards from the village entrance. Every flower in white and assorted summer tones were tossed into the small casket given as a gesture from the Hokage himself; the coffin was sweet-smelling maple, but it made the stomachs of some queasy. All were dressed in black. Naruto and his family were present, as were Sasuke and his women. Distraught fangirls were there, of course, weeping over the lost member of the group they'd come to love.

Itachi kept his lips in a tight line as he held the hand of his lover. _This love isn't compared to the one a brother has._

"Well, it's my turn," Hotaka said softly as he stood up after the Hokage stepped down, giving the man a somber smile and handshake before letting him stand before the modest lot of people watching. Hotaka cleared his throat. "Tsuneo was the greatest brother a man could ever ask for in his life. When we were younger, he would always follow my tail, and we had each other when we lost our parents at a young age. No child should have to witness that. From then on, I took care of my brother and gave him everything he needed - and one day, I met the love of my life, while still being there for Tsuneo." He paused to sigh. "It had been very difficult to think that you're being forced to choose the one you met and fell in love with, recognized her soul with yours, when your only brother was the one you dedicated your life to. But Tsuneo just smiled and said he wanted his _aniki_ happy, so when I married Kairi and had two beautiful children with her, my baby brother was there through thick and thin. He was even more when I lost my wife three years ago." A glaze in the eyes.

"Just when I thought I wouldn't lose another just yet, we learn too late that _otouto_ was deep in the stages of a disease that was so sneaky we couldn't do anything but wait for the inevitable. Then a very special someone..." His gaze traveled then to Itachi, who allowed a smile to show, and his eyes ever concealed by bandages. "...entered my life one day. He became part of the family I have that included my own brother and the ones with me today."

Then and there, he began to choke on his words, causing several hearts to crack and weep with him. "The life we had was one that I will never forget even if someone wanted me to. Tsuneo was one of a kind. He would have...wanted me happy even if he was gone. Though I expected it all this time and wasn't alone, it still feels he left too soon."

Itachi's tears leaked through his gauze, and he reached up to wipe them. From the corner of his eyes, he saw a stricken Isao do the same, and Kichiro was comforting him even though the man wasn't his father. Fumio was doing the same, but the other young man gave him a hard look before it turned to Itachi, softening by only a fraction. Did you have to ask Fumio's?

He'd told them both the truth yesterday after Sakura had taken the body away for examination and the autopsy to be filled, and while Fumio did accept he'd told the truth, he hated the fact that secrets had been kept all this time. Kichiro had looked amazed, but at the same time, didn't know how to take this in - or the fact _Itachi Uchiha_ was alive all this time, but with no idea who had brought him back.

He was back to what had been started.

The obvious distrust was evident in Isao's son's eyes, but the father himself remained oblivious because Itachi had done what he had to in order to prevent Fumio from speaking: _Tsukuyomi._

He'd sworn to never use his abilities in a malicious way again. When he raised the bandages from his eyes, the shock was evident in the irises of both other young men before him. He didn't inflict damage, but enough to quiet Fumio down and assure his tongue was tied. It pained him to do this to the man - and in front of both their friend, no less.

Hotaka had never seen his lover behold his Shinobi skills, so the dismay was there...but so was the amazement at the powerful effect the once-dead Uchiha instilled.

Itachi felt like he truly betrayed his lover. Betrayed their friends. He had done so many times in his previous life, but now...

Kichiro said nothing, too stunned, as he helped carry the unconscious Fumio to his father, who was disgusted that his son was more drunk than he should have gotten. But a berate wouldn't be in order because of the loss. When they were both gone, Hotaka had turned to him with an unreadable expression. His brother passed on into the afterlife, Sakura Uchiha came to tell her brother-in-law and new friend the finding within the corpse, and then Fumio overheard when neither realized it.

None of the others spoke to him since then. He didn't know if Kichiro would ever find his bravery to speak again even though he didn't see the Uchiha as a menace and DID protect himself for reasons - and Fumio might never come around, or even if he would, it wouldn't be for a long time.

 _Some people shut you off for no reason, or merely act on impulse, and you can't do anything about it._

He closed his eyes at the same time he placed a hand over his heart. He could feel it breaking by the seconds that passed with both the memory of yesterday's events, and the eulogy that the grief-stricken but still smiling elder brother - _just like a true Shinobi masks his pain so well, and he's not a ninja_ \- gave, and he found himself tilting his head upwards to look at the sky.

When he lowered his gaze, he found Sasuke glancing over at him, a glaze in his eyes within an emotionless mask. The words had affected him more than anyone realized, but Itachi as his _aniki_ knew him well.

~o~

He was at the entrance with the group that welcomed him in his early days of being back in the world. He was saying goodbye to them - for now. Nothing was the end of the world anymore. He stood true to his word that his heart would remain open, and he would enjoy anything that came his way while it lasted. He was happy with the time he had with these men, though he'd made an enemy in the end with one of them who'd had every reason to be suspicious.

The body was still in its casket and given the flowers that the mourners had left for Tsuneo. It had been placed into the empty cart that didn't have their packed up equipment. Fumio was the first to be in, making his father shake his head, before he turned to look at Itachi with a sad look in his eyes. "Ryuu," he said tenderly, still unknowing who the "blind" member really was, "I'm sorry you can't come with us, but I hope your family can take care of you now." His face fell even further.

"Hotaka really needs you, you know. He's lost his brother, and he really cares about you..."

"I know," Itachi said softly, "and I will remain so with him. But right now, I need to take care of something familial, a terrible time as it is." Isao nodded somberly and patted his shoulder before turning and joining his stoic son on the wagon. Kichiro was coming up to him now, swallowing a gulp, but he had his balls intact.

He said in a low voice, "I'll try to talk to Fumio, and I wish you luck in your...search," he said, surprising the Uchiha. _He's slowly becoming unafraid of me._ Itachi smiled back and said nothing, only nodded once. Now one more man was left...

"Are you sure you want to stay here?" Hotaka whispered, leaning close enough so their noses nearly touched, making him shiver.

Itachi reached up to put both hands on his partner's chest. "I'm sure," he answered softly. "I've only proven to be a burden in one's eyes, and I must do what I need to; I have to find it out now. If it's that dangerous, then I can't have you placed in harm's way."

Hotaka narrowed his eyes. "I'm a grown man," he said. "I take care of myself."

"That's not the point. In the Shinobi world, even in times of peace, there will always be a life lost even if you make the promise it would never happen. I...care greatly about you for that. I've lost too many people, and I cannot have a repeat. You lost another yesterday, and you should not witness losing me. Remember what I have told you?" The older man sighed, nodding his head in defeat and disappointment. Itachi leaned up and placed a brief kiss on a cheek. "The weeks and every second I spent with you have been more than the best I have savored."

"So, it's goodbye for now."

"Yes...for now." Another kiss was shared, this time on the lips...before Itachi let him go, and another tear fell from the corner of his eye.

When the caravan was gone, Itachi turned around to see his family standing there. Sarada had fallen asleep in her mother's arms; Sakura herself was crestfallen, and Sasuke's eyes were half-closed, but the message was clear.

 _We have work to do._

 **I hope the wait was worth it, so review appreciated. :) Things are just getting back to the way it had begun for Itachi.**

 **I apologize if it seems cruel for him to stay home behind and leave his lover who has just lost his brother, but it's necessary. And he's still keeping his cover even though a new enemy (and not a dangerous one at that) has been made, only a few people still know his identity. It's a matter of time before it explodes, and the mystery has to be solved soon, right?**


	12. Near the Road's End

**A couple more chapters at most are left in here, this one included. We're getting close to the end of Itachi's journey. :) It's been a hell of a rollercoaster ride.**

 **At the end of the chapter is an extension of Itachi's "problem down there", if no one has forgotten from the beginning of this fic, so you may be a little disturbed more than back then.**

Chapter Twelve

Near the Road's End

He'd only been away from the group for a day, but after watching his lover and the others leave the village - leaving HIM and his pack behind - the hollow in his heart became wider. He tried to assure himself he _might_ see Hotaka again, that the group would return as it was only some hours away, but something told him he might not. It was a fifty-fifty chance, which made it that much greater on either side...

Itachi collected the rest of the pack from the inn, checking out himself and smiling politely the entire time - although inside, he wanted nothing more than to get out of here. The sooner, the better. The family needed a hunt, it seemed. He chuckled when he led them outside the front doors, feeling himself washed over with the eerie sense of freedom.

However, it was loneliness, without the comfort and company of one certain man.

Sighing, he sat down halfway on the stairs to the entrance, with the wolves surrounding him, looking about the air and sniffing, curious about the people that passed them by, and the pups sat at his feet, pawing at him while licking his skin, and whimpering. Smiling, he picked up little Sakuya and held her in his lap, then her brothers followed. He wasn't in a hurry to leave yet; he just wanted to enjoy the atmosphere around him...even if the festivities were on hold. He saw it all around him: the tents and relics, the temples and everything related still in place, but because of the absence of Hotaka's group, today and tomorrow would be off until a resolution of continuation - or whether or not the group would return - was decided.

He had always put others above himself. Tsuneo's death affected him as much as losing Shisui and many comrades. As a brother himself, he knew the pain Sasuke felt when he died before the younger's eyes, the truth coming out because of the damned Madara...

"Oh, good timing we find you here, Itachi."

His sister-in-law arrived, with Sarada in her arms and still sleeping. The child was that tired, but she was also too young to know what death was right now. _Should her father be killed one day and she would spend the rest of her life remembering their life the way it is now..._

He stood from the stairs, walking over to Sakura and her sleeping daughter. She smiled down at the wolves when they sniffed and whimpered at her. Shiranui growled softly as he was happy to see Sarada. "May I take her?" he offered. Sakura nodded and deposited the little girl into his embrace. She sighed and stirred, but didn't wake. He lightly laughed. "She was that tired, was she not?"

"She hasn't even been to a place where we lose a loved one yet," she answered, a faraway look in her eyes. "Except you, before she came along..." She trailed off then and there.

They began walking away from the inn, the wolves tagging ahead so he had a close eye on them. "Where's Sasuke?" Itachi asked after a moment's pause.

"He's speaking to Naruto. I think he will leave soon."

 _Without telling his family goodbye._ He frowned. "And Sarada won't see him before he leaves," he stated, thoroughly displeased, but Sakura shook her head.

"No, he already did say goodbye to us. He already left without a moment to lose. It's very important, Itachi," she said softly. "Because I found some lingering, out-of-the-world chakra that links back to the..." She paused then and there, a dramatic pause lingering between them. Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"The what?" he pressed.

She swallowed and looked ahead. "During the war, Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, and I - and the rest of our fellow Shinobi - we all came across a very powerful clan that did not exist in this world, but from beyond the heavens..."

Having the feeling it was far exceeding of the Sage of Six Paths himself, Itachi allowed himself to listen to his sister-in-law's account, her voice kept low so not many were listening. He had not lived before to see this great development in the war that should have ended when he'd gotten through to Kabuto in releasing the Edo Tensei...

~o~

The wolves were scouting out the apartment with Shiranui in the lead as he'd been here before, and little Sarada was playing with the puppies in her room, happy and squealing when they jumped and licked her. Itachi glimpsed this from outside her room door, smiling to himself. He reached up and briefly rested his fingers on the side of the new sunglasses that Sakura had given him - and he had to say he fancied them more than the bandages, even if it meant to cover his eyes still.

"You need something better than those damned rags," she'd said with a laugh, pulling off the bandages from his eyes - in the sanctuary of these walls - before replacing them with her personal eyewear. The sadness was there in her emerald irises, telling him in unspoken terms that he shouldn't hide himself at all now that things had changed for the better.

He'd given her a little smile of gratitude before turning to smile at himself in the mirror.

He hadn't had the chance to be around more people in this village, not since he was with Hotaka and the others, but the pretense was over - to a degree. He rubbed his eyes with the relief that he didn't have to hide his eyes anymore, but to cover them with something else that made him appear "normal" to others. He was still a stranger to the civilians around - but there would be a chance a Shinobi would catch on. He was alone, but not for long. His pack stayed with him, and his family was here. He was surrounded by familiarity.

 _I never thought I would miss the group more than I should._

When he sat down before Sakura that same day they arrived at the apartment she handled in her husband's absence and with his help whenever he was home, she made them both skewers of dango - his favorite tri-color - along with green tea. This was right after Sarada awoke by the time they reached the complex, and she squealed at the sight of the wolf puppies and their mother growling a little at the human child, but non-threatening. Amaterasu let her children be in the room with the five-year-old while she and her mate followed her brother-in-law to get to know their new surroundings, ultimately bringing Itachi back to the present.

The two of them sat on the sofa while Sakura told him about the ancient Ootsutsuki clan.

"To state this bluntly," she said somberly, "these people come from beyond the stars like I said before, with the purpose of seeking out the God Tree, which is essential to our society today as a whole as it was from the beginning, and yet..." Her eyes darkened. "...they left it, leaving behind bloodlust."

 _These people...this clan...went from planet to planet to harvest this tree of great power, in the process absorbing life in its path._

"Many worshipped it as a sacred icon, while others feared it as a life-sucking entity." Her irises glazed. "It took so many of our own near the end of the war." The lids closed as she reminisced the terrible, horrific tragedies which gave Itachi a clear image of skeletal appearances as the chakra life was sucked out of them...

If he were a lesser man, he would have shuddered visibly and audibly.

"It was because of the reanimated Madara Uchiha -" He bit back a growl at the name. "- and Obito, a former teammate of Kakashi's that was supposed to have died many years ago...and who masqueraded as the one you thought was the long-dead co-founder of our village."

Itachi listened as she told him about the matriarch herself, Kaguya, and her sons Hamura and Hagoromo - _the Sage of Six Paths himself_ \- and how she originally had ended all conflict but in the end was viewed as destructive and dominating. Thus detailing the world coming under the Infinite Tsukuyomi - the threat of humanity entrapped becoming White Zetsu slaves - with the exception of her, Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi - and the spell broken...and ending ultimately with the final fight between his brother and Naruto.

He didn't realize he'd been shedding more tears until Sakura offered him a tissue from the table in front of them. _My little brother and the one I trusted to save him...they saved us all._

"How many others of this clan are there now besides Kaguya, her sons and this...Toneri...?" _The one who tried to take Hinata away from Naruto, Sakura said..._ He clenched his hands into fists, one threatening to break the cup in his hands.

Sakura swallowed. "...at least six, but there could be more that we don't know yet," she answered. She shook her head. "What I found in Tsuneo's system is no doubt chakra - or what's left - and it's definitely Oosutsuki...but why?" she mused suddenly, brows creasing together as she pondered this very deeply, half to him and half to herself.

Itachi felt his own frown come to his face. _Why, indeed..._

If much of the clan was dead, if Kaguya was elsewhere - then which member was it this time?

Could this one have brought him back to being? _If it was, then I must know why he was within Tsuneo's body; if he has masked his true self well and died when his task was done, if the body was merely a disguise this whole time..._

The light appeared in Sakura's eyes when he asked her this. "If it is, then..." She stopped herself then and there, standing immediately. He rose and matched her level.

"I must go to the Hokage then," Itachi stated. Sasuke might have already left; he was a grown man and could take care of himself, but he couldn't just sit by and be useless. He deserved to be there to find the answers he desperately craved all this time. He wanted to have it all end...or he was being too rash.

 _I've changed too much._

~o~

"I can't let you follow him, Itachi."

Itachi bowed his head by an inch. "I expected that answer. I have never gone against a direct order from the Hokage, but you understand my decision. Sakura has told me enough about the Oosutsuki," he said, reaching up to remove the shades from his eyes. The light shone brighter, making him close and rub them before his vision cleared to normal. Shiranui sat on his hind legs, looking at the Hokage with a blink every now and then.

Naruto's eyes became half-lidded, and he nodded somberly. "Yes. I had told you before that we didn't know what we would be up against...but we handled these people during the war. I...wish I could be there, because we tackled Kaguya well, and I did settle it with one..." He hesitated. "...who almost took Hinata away and tried to wipe us all out himself." He leaned back into his chair. "Toneri was the last, sole surviving of the main branch family - but if it's not him, then who else could it be?"

It seemed he was moreso asking himself rather than Itachi. The Oosutsuki clan originated themselves to settle on the moon above all else, carrying and harnessing every powerful bloodline known - but at the top was the Byakugan. Sakura filled him in on that. But they also possessed the Sharingan and the Rinnegan, the god of all _kekkei genkai_...he found himself listing off what the Rinnegan could do that put his clan's bloodline to shame.

 _The ability to see chakra flow._

 _Extraction of the soul._

 _Shifting through time and space._

 _Raising the dead..._

 _WAIT._

Itachi swallowed and looked down at the ground, feeling his bones freeze more than the rest of his system. Naruto frowned. "Itachi?"

"Naruto," he answered without a breath. The wolf perked up, icy blues widening by a fraction, and he whimpered. "Whoever it is, they used the Rinnegan's Outer Path to revive me." _Lack of physical proof, but it's a strong possibility. This jutsu can give new life into the dead...at the cost of the life of the one giving it._

But in order to do that, the King of Hell - which allowed the spirits of the dead to pass through its gaping mouth - was to be summoned. For that, the Reanimation Jutsu had to first bring the body into its real flesh and blood form...and Itachi Uchiha was dead for nearly a good decade before his second time of resurrection came to be for previously unknown reasons.

Suddenly, he felt something...strange, down there, where he'd... _Kami, at a time like_ this _?!_ He was just coming to the conclusions when THIS - "Naruto, if you will excuse me," he said to the Hokage, turning halfway when the other called to him.

"Itachi, it's not that you have no right to be involved, or that you are incapable now, but Sasuke will handle this."

He sighed sharply. "I know," he said before putting his sunglasses back on and opening the door, Shiranui following him out and into the corridors. The ache below his belly began to grow, and then descended into something tingling with pleasure and _pain_. He winced, which Shiranui sensed and growled softly. "It's nothing." A lie, and the wolf knew it, but an animal could never speak words.

 _What in the name of the gods is this? And why did it have to occur at -?_

Sakura was at the hospital and Sarada at the Academy now, which left the apartment to himself, until he was the one to pick the girl up like he used to do for her father when they were children. By the time he returned home, the powerful pound in his loins had reached tenfold that it made Itachi nearly collapse on his knees, but Shiranui was there for him; the beast guided him into the home, and he reached the bathroom in no time. Itachi bit his bottom lip as he grasped the waistband of his trousers, swiftly pushing them down around his knees to look at himself and see what the problem was...

...and when he did, he was on the verge of crying out in horror.

Just like the day he discovered he had literally lost his manhood...and if that hadn't been worse, this crossed the line of getting better or getting worse at the same time.

The skin had been smooth and completely devoid of hair; now, that had changed completely. Growing was a dark stubble that would soon become the normal nest of curls he used to have, but while it relieved him that he was - _mysteriously_ \- returning to normal, it wasn't the end. His finger smoothed over the slowly growing pubic hair until he reached downward, and sucked in a gasp of shock, pleasure and dismay. The slit that had been farther down now extended to the front, and the sensitivity of his nerve bundles tripled. His heart leaped against his breastbone when his finger slipped inside and found another entranceway like behind.

Was this how _women_ felt in their parts during intercourse?

 _It seems fate is prompting me to finally regain another part of my old self...but also to give me something new, now that I'm opening the curtains._

Itachi sat down on the lid of the closed toilet, his mind abuzz. He didn't know how this was happening now; his cheeks burned with the idea of having to ask his sister-in-law to examine him. This was something to be kept among men, but what choice did he have? He shivered at the sensations dominating his lower body, but his own hand wasn't the same as his lover's, whom he missed dearly.

He closed his eyes and moaned when the finger was joined by another, probing the slick interior of his newly formed folds; his nipples hardened beneath his fitted white shirt. He leaned back against the receptacle, spreading his legs further in pleasure. Swallowing a whimper, he touched every inch of his cavern with the pad of his finger, jumping a little when he hit a spot, and when he pulled his fingers out by the time it was over, an exquisite wave washed over him - but something sticky seeped down his skin and onto the white porcelain beneath him. Bringing his fingers to his eyes, a clear, sweetly scented fluid shone.

Dropping his hand into his bare lap, Itachi exhaled as he slowly came down from his high. His self-inflicted orgasm slowly left him, leaving behind a sticky bother he'd never felt before. He began wondering how to approach Sakura with this - and how to get to Sasuke as soon as possible.

 **The Outer Path - a reincarnation jutsu known to take the life of the user and give it to the dead, also known as the "Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique", which was used by none other than Pain himself when he attacked the Leaf Village...then Naruto got through to Nagato, prompting one last noble act. :)**

 **Now let's see who used this technique on ITACHI. :D**

 **Not only that, Itachi is starting to (partly) regain his old self back, and if anyone is wondering if he's still man or is somewhat woman now, it is neither. It's hard to explain, because some things are best left to the imagination. Nevertheless, it's vital to reaching the end of his discovery.**


	13. Meaning of Life

**Nothing to say except read, enjoy and review this grand finale. :D And it's named after one of the newest pieces by Brunuhville on YouTube, which also provided vivid inspiration for these events.**

 **Warning: mpreg mentioned, but it's nothing TOO explicit. Apologies go out to those who don't like, but please don't be too shy. This is the big finish.**

Chapter Thirteen

Meaning of Life

Half of Itachi didn't want to leave the private sanctuary, but Shiranui was pawing and sniffing at the door as if reminding him that he couldn't hide in there all day. Sighing, he resigned and left, after cleaning himself up. He would have to pick up Sarada soon, in a few hours. Right now required a much needed drink, but something alcoholic would not suffice. He settled on making himself a kettle of tea and taking out the leftover sushi dish from yesterday. He was really hungry now, for some reason; if his activities in the bathroom had done the trick on him...

The wolves were on him then, demanding their meal; he stood from his late lunch and returned to the kitchen stove, finding some raw, uncooked steak - he loathed it anyway - and decided this was fitting for them. He decided to make a trip down to the meat market after he was finished; he doubted Sakura would be happy to know that her fridge had no respect.

The pups were fighting over their portion of the meal, watched keenly by their parents, and Shiranui the uncle went up to Itachi as he enjoyed his food. Under the roof belonging to his brother's family, on his own and surrounded by furry friends, like a normal human being, if only for a short time - but each minute had to count.

When he was finished, he cleaned the dishes and put them all back into their original places, feeling how drowsy he had become, but he couldn't afford to fall asleep when Sarada needed him soon. Chances were that he'd pass out and wake up late enough to earn a bash to the head by the mother herself if something happened to her child...

He decided a walk through the village with the original plan to buy groceries for the family was in order. "Come on, Shiranui; we are going back out."

The wolf was happy to comply, but then Ryujin growled, stating he wanted to go and get some more food for his family, making Itachi sigh. "My friend, hunting at an odd time will raise questions if anyone sees you," he said to the copper-eyed male, stroking him behind the ears. "Besides, I doubt the woman of the house would appreciate blood trailing from her front door and across her polished floors..."

~o~

Sarada was surrounded by a small group of friends - one of them being Naruto's son - when he arrived and waited underneath the great tree he once rested under as he waited for her father in the "good old days", leaning back calmly and casually as he watched the young Shinobi wannabes leave, happy and joining friends before parting to go to their parents or to carry on with their friends. Few had other relatives or guardians to collect the remaining.

He smiled at those who passed by him, even though they didn't ask who he was, and a couple of them reached to pet Shiranui; the beast closed his eyes and allowed the little ones to caress him before he got tired of it and moved closer to Itachi as they waited for the one...

" _Oji-san!_ "

The little girl with glasses and her father's resemblance happily ran up to him and threw her arms around him at the waist. Proudly, Itachi returned the embrace and picked her up, hoisting her onto his back just like he used to do to Sasuke, making her laugh and wrap her arms around his shoulders. He nearly melted when she pecked his cheek with a kiss. _My sweet little niece._

"How was your day, Sara-chan?" he asked when he began to walk them back to the apartment, the sun going down and leaving behind an array of orange and gold.

She laughed and held onto him tighter. "Well, Anko-sensei is scary to those who cross her..."

Itachi chuckled as he remembered her very well, and how right his niece was. Maybe someday he would cross paths with Anko and see how she'd been faring all this time. Unfortunately, today would not be the day, and the late hour wasn't the only reason.

His stomach suddenly took him off-guard; perhaps it was the sushi he'd eaten earlier. Either way, he had to let Sarada down from his back so he could dash towards a collection of bushes, and vomited then and there into the secrecy of the shrubbery. He threw up two, three more times before he was calm again, but he frowned as he could not understand what had brought this on. Not even a few hours ago, he'd enjoyed a good meal, but now the food had been brought back out of his mouth. Shiranui whimpered as he sniffed, trying to figure out what was wrong with his human companion.

Sarada took a few steps forward, lower lip trembling and eyes wide. "Uncle, are you okay?"

"Umm...I believe so." He stood shakily on his feet, the wolf supporting him on one side, and the little girl on the other.

"What could it be? A bug?" she pressed, lifting her nose curiously.

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"Maybe you should ask Mama when she gets home," his niece suggested as they continued to walk home. He nodded; he planned to do just that.

And on par, Sakura did come home just before the sun disappeared and left behind indigo and black in its wake. Before setting foot up the stairs, Itachi was hit with another unexpected bout and vomited again into the nearest collection of bushes he could find. By this time, by coincidence, the matriarch herself appeared and hurried down the stairs to be beside him, helping him stand. "Itachi!" She looked down at her daughter who piped up.

"He's been sick since he picked me up from the Academy."

Itachi closed his eyes, wishing to swallow down the unknown illness in his body, having been taken aback when he had not been expecting to become sick again. In his previous reanimated form, near perfect as it had been by Kabuto's hand, he'd been alive for less than a few days before the release under the influence of Izanami. So, how to explain this...?

Sakura took him by the forearm gently but firmly, guiding him towards the stairs, ushering Sarada ahead of them. The wolf followed, tail swishing at random. "Itachi, when did this start?" the woman asked when they were halfway up.

"Not that long ago," he replied, "when I collected Sarada. And it happened again just now."

"Do you remember ingesting something unusual?" She wasted no time jumping right on into her physician's evaluation.

"Only leftover sushi when I returned from Hokage Tower, but nothing else."

Her brows furrowed as she pondered this over, then her expression softened. "When Sarada lays down, we'll do a...private examination," she said softly. "I don't know what it could be without further physical proof, and the hospital isn't in question right now." _If anyone were to find this out about me, then it's utter disgrace._

Sarada was at the well-placed dinner table, with Shiranui and his family settling in the living room. She looked up at her mother and uncle when they first arrived, and the worry was clear in her eyes. No smile would make her return the expression. "It's perhaps nothing to worry about, niece," Itachi tried to assure her, and that made her relax only slightly. She said nothing, and the family ate in silence, but Sarada did brighten up when she told them about her day and how Boruto was an idiot worse than his father was, making both him and Sakura laugh, and the mother joked in agreement that each generation did either get worse or better than the last.

He thanked Sakura for not making steak as he'd made it clear it wasn't his personal favorite, and no sushi again. She'd made a simple rice and miso meal for them all. He should have remembered his manners, but he stuffed himself silly and moaned with pleasure at how delicious it was. Blushing, he thanked his sister-in-law and apologized. Earlier, he'd been sick and vomiting out of nowhere. Now, he'd been taken by surprise with immense hunger. He wasn't lowering his guard if he were to assume it wouldn't come back.

"Night, Mama," Sarada said, kissing her mother's cheek, then Itachi's, "and Uncle."

"Get a good night's sleep, baby," Sakura told her, watching with him as the child closed her bedroom door, after bathing and then changing into her sleepwear that same night. The dishes needed to be taken care of, but he would do that himself. Meanwhile...

"Itachi...meet me in the bedroom. I'm going to set up my spare tools and equipment."

~o~

If he didn't know any better, he'd have called this room the miniature version of his sister-in-law's private hospital. He heard of how she faced near-death to save the lives of many, earned the full title of _kunoichi_ and surpassed even her own mentor, the legendary Slug Princess Tsunade, and even treated both her best friend and eventual husband when they fought for one last time and both lost an arm.

 _Hence why Sasuke refused to have his arm healed._

Itachi closed his eyes and relaxed against the pillow beneath his head. He lay on the bed that his brother and sister-in-law shared, not in an insulting manner, and with his trousers down around his ankles so Sakura could carry on with this current section of the examination. She'd already taken his pulse, heartbeat and such, and all were normal. She even summed up that it was not a stomach flu by any means...which led to the latest part which made Itachi's skin break out into sweat. No matter how he reassured himself that this was professional and medical purposes, he couldn't help but feel...small beneath the inquisitive green gaze of his sister-in-law as she ran her green chakra infused hands over his most private area, which was also laid open. _Every detail._ The shock that had first appeared had since faded.

"God...I am familiar with hermaphroditism, but this..." She swallowed and cleared her throat. "This shouldn't happen in full adulthood when you don't expect it. But one thing is certain: I can't decipher what _caused_ this."

"Neither do I."

"You didn't have this when you first woke up," Sakura went on, "and you also didn't have what all men have, right?" He shook his head. He didn't trust his own words when the question was asked. She frowned now, looking to the side and deep in thought now. "Damn it," she swore, before her scowl relaxed. "I may just be theorizing, but whoever the deity was behind this, they must have their own special reasons." The green chakra faded back into her channels, and her hands dropped. Itachi willed his legs to close, but he remained in the same position.

 _What was done wasn't the sick twist of a joke I originally thought it was. It may be unclear -_

"Itachi," Sakura suddenly added, "you're not going to believe what else I found. You have a, erm...womb."

Something inside Itachi made him nearly bolt, but he gripped the sides of the comforter as well as his jaw. His heartbeat quickened before stopping altogether. If having feminine parts in his masculine form wasn't enough... "Sakura..." he said slowly. "...if you're saying I have..." _If I have THAT, then that means I am..._

Sakura's cheeks turned from the soft blush that matched her hair to a much darker rose. "Yes, Itachi, it means you are pregnant," she answered, half-strangled out of pure embarrassment.

 _Pregnant..._

Itachi laid his head back, wishing he could pull his pants up, but he didn't feel the will to move - but then he felt a hand against his skin and the fabric of his pants being pulled up his legs. Sakura was helping him as she saw through him. "I'm sorry. I don't know what to say. You don't know what to do, and having a family wasn't ever on your agenda...?"

He stared up at the ceiling, pondering the question and statement in one. No, he never thought about having children - and this one...this child... _it's Hotaka's. It's been not even a few days since we were last in bed together. He ought to know, but he's suffered a tragedy that a new child is out of the question._ Itachi shifted his hips so he was completely covered now, but he felt himself in a blank. However, if there was one certain thing, an abortion would not be the plan. One strong belief within the Uchiha was to NEVER kill an innocent life conceived between you and your partner.

"You're...going to tell him eventually, are you?" Sakura asked hesitantly.

He sighed. "Maybe...I don't know."

"You know you have to. It's also his, and maybe because he lost someone he loved, something good will also come his way." She offered a slight smile, but it seemed to hurt her a little. "I heard from Naruto that they'll be back tomorrow. The festival will be back on by then, in time for the finish."

Itachi allowed a small smile to come to his face before he let it fade. He wished to say that it was cruel to think about festivity when a life was lost - but life also had to go on. He knew Hotaka would have more than enough time to mourn his brother, but he also had a life and duty to fulfill, and his brother would have wanted him and the rest of them to carry on. He sighed and brought both his hands to his stomach, knowing what he and his lover created together was there. He tried to think about what to tell him, and how to...

 _The others may not be so happy to see me. For all I know, I may not be a member of their group, but I will not let it hinder me. I found my way through this new life with their help._

That was not all: if there was trouble out there, then perhaps he should not go out after all against Naruto's word. Not only would Sasuke handle himself, but Itachi had to protect the baby he was now carrying. He was anything but rash, and a life still always came first - _this life is part of me._

~o~

Sasuke had not yet returned, and Itachi did his best to not worry for his brother.

But in the event, Hotaka and his group did return in time, and the festival was back to its glory for the remainder of its time.

The sun was peeking out by the time the small caravan set foot through the front gates. The crowd was gathering, the applause rising, but it was neutral and torn between happiness and sympathy. No one would ever forget the recent loss, but no one would cease just because he was gone. Everyone knew that you had to pick up and move forward in a matter of time.

Itachi was waiting with his pack, but hidden from sight, as he felt his lungs constrict at the sight of his lover in the lead, and the rest trailing behind him. Hotaka was smiling, but it was distant from his eyes. The Uchiha read every emotion he had: he missed his brother who was either buried or cremated, and he also missed Itachi. Whom he could not wait to see very soon. Isao and his son as well as Kichiro were ecstatic, although when his father wasn't looking, Fumio cast a thin-lipped line ahead as he did NOT want to see a certain "liar" and "dead man" who was still lingering about. That reminded Itachi, he had to know if he was still one of them or not. Isao was the founder of the group, so he was the one who had the true final answer.

He had to assume they would return to the inn, but for now, he kept a shadowy tail on them. He did not wish to be accosted by Fumio if the man still hated him. He just wanted to see his lover - the father of the child he was carrying.

And by the time night fell, and he was attending the festival at night with his sister-in-law and his niece, he was given that opportunity when the man himself found him on his own and approached him. He recognized him through the sunglasses even, recalling certain features of his so well, and Itachi wasted no time allowing himself to be taken into an embrace if it risked the attention of the rest of the group.

"You've returned."

Hotaka chuckled as he looked him over, taking a step back. "Yup. Didn't we promise each other I would be back?" Itachi nodded, half-smiling.

"I haven't said these words in a long time to anyone - at least, not in this sense. But I have missed you," he confessed, putting a hand on the elder's shoulder.

"I have, too, my boy." Hotaka partially leaned in, as if to kiss his forehead, but onlookers who didn't approve of two men exchanging such gestures might usher their children away or turn away with sickness in their stomachs, so the man remained as he was. "Tsuneo was cremated. I have placed him on the fireplace mantle. Though...I wish you were there to see it." His eyes were fogged over, absent of tears.

Itachi decided standing here would not do good, so he found them a bench beneath a collection of hanging lanterns overhead. "I know, and I regret not being there." He looked ahead through his sunglasses, leaning back and exhaling.

Hotaka smiled at him, taking his hand into his. "Don't apologize. Maybe it was for the best, after all. You had your own issues to deal with, and sooner rather than later. I see you've done well while I was away." He frowned then. "Your brother - I didn't see him. Has he left as the Hokage ordered?"

Itachi nodded. "He's been away to the place I first...awoke. No word yet." He took a deep breath. "We're close, but we have a possible lead. An ancient clan called the Ootsutsuki - and it's a strong possibility one of them has to do with my revival. My brother, Sakura, Naruto and their fellow Shinobi encountered and fought them during the war, after I had the Reanimation Jutsu released. They're known as the 'gods of Shinobi', going from world to world and harvesting what they called the God Tree, but while it is revered as a devoted icon of life, giving great power...it is known to suck the lifeforce out of you. But that is beside the point..."

Hotaka had blanched a little when Itachi told him everything Sakura told him.

"...in the end, one of them had reasons to bring me back. Giving me a second chance, but I refuse to let my guard down," Itachi promised, then sighed again. "And there's more..."

But before he could finish speaking, the gong was struck, signaling that Hotaka had to rejoin the group so they could begin...but the chance never came.

The middle of the grounds, surrounded by the throng of people in finery and holding small lanterns and sparklers, was shaken and then erupted with a flash of light, shattering debris everywhere. Many were thrown off their feet and backwards. The stage partially collapsed, but the members of the group who had made it before Hotaka had gotten off unscathed.

Standing there, in the middle of the chaos, was a glowing figure of light blue and white...bearing _Tsuneo's face._

~o~

His heart ran cold, turning his blood to subzero.

Tsuneo's face was not the only thing he saw in this man that had the attention of the celebrating residents.

"Oh, gods -" Hotaka's voice failed him as he looked upon the face of his dead brother, holding onto Itachi for support. "My God...my brother..."

But there was no way this could truly be his _otouto,_ and Itachi knew that. He stood beside his lover, surrounded by others - and Sakura had saved both her daughter and others by throwing a powerful fist overhead, crushing a fallen piece of concrete into scattered debris. The purple diamond in the middle of her head pulsed with the vein that bulged as she glared at the being before them all. So many of her other fellow Shinobi were ready to join the fight as they seemed to recognize WHAT he was.

 _This man with Tsuneo's face...he's Ootsutsuki_.

The pale, pupil-less irises were none other than the Byakugan, confirming it all. Itachi knew to tell from signs which individual had a threatening aura and which did not. The Ootsutsuki were not all threatening against humanity; Hagoromo himself had been not, but the chance was very minimal. This one...based on the somewhat kind smile as he looked upon the onlookers around him, it was clear he did not mean to cause the mess. _It would also seem he is thankful no one was injured or killed._

In a flash of yellow, Naruto stood not that far away from him and Hotaka; speaking of which, the rest of the group came to be directly next to them.

"Hotaka, my friend!" Isao cried, taking him from Itachi's hold, and the Uchiha let him. "Are you okay?!"

"Very," the other man grunted, then nearly collapsed onto his knees. "That man...looks like..."

Kichiro agreed, narrowing his eyes. "Yeah, he looks like your brother - but what and who the hell is he?" he demanded disgustedly.

"Gentlemen," the Hokage spoke, keeping his stance. He'd activated his Nine-Tails Mode in case things got beyond chaotic once more. Itachi allowed a small smile to show. "He is a member of a clan out of this world that you wouldn't believe. He's something I should handle." He scoffed, muttering under his breath that Itachi heard crystal clear. "Damn it, I wish Sasuke were here to help me..."

 _Indeed...where ARE you, little brother?_

The being spoke then and there, raising both hands. His voice sounded like Tsuneo in life, but softer now as a true god who came down to pay his respects to the mortals.

"Fear not. I have no means to lay waste upon the village - but I am terribly sorry for the mess I have made."

Naruto stepped forward, glaring at the man in silvery white robes and harnessing the Byakugan that his wife and her clan inherited through bloodline from the dawn of time. "Why should we trust you, whoever you are?" he said heatedly. "So many in your clan - with the exception of the Sage of Six Paths himself - have threatened us all as long as our history lived on, so why are you here, and what do you want?" The man simply continued to smile.

"I only want the one who stands out from the rest of you...and he is right beside you at the very moment."

Naruto started, before pulling himself together and turning his attention to...Itachi himself. _Me._ Now Hotaka and his group looked at him, and the entire village soon joined in.

Sakura held her daughter close to her side, both looking on with worry.

Itachi felt himself step forward, keeping his attention on the being before them all. "If you are asking for a fight," he started, stopping there on purpose, slowly dropping pieces of his disguise now, but his glasses remained.

But the deity chuckled softly and waved it off. "No, not a fight. But I have...answers that you have long wished for. Those which you have sought long and hard for all this time while you lived amongst those you once belonged among in another life - tell me, have you really enjoyed living as you let on..."

A long pause droned on, increasing the tension.

"...Itachi Uchiha?"

Gasps broke the air, shattering the glass here and there. Whispers began, but he cut them off to pay attention to this one. He could still feel Fumio's smirk, as well as the defeat in Hotaka and Kichiro, and Isao looked at him with surprise. Naruto bared his teeth furiously.

 _It's over at last._

"If you are attempting to cut through me, it will never work. But the answer is yes, I have lived not as the pawn I used to be, but as a man. Just as Itachi Uchiha - even if I deceived all those around me, necessarily to protect myself." He allowed his smile to form. "Now tell me this: why is it that you bear a striking resemblance to the dead brother of this man -" He nodded to Hotaka behind him. "- beside me?"

Hotaka took a step forward. "Yes, how dare you look like my dear brother?!" he said, outraged, but Itachi raised his hand, motioning him to stay out of this. _This is between me and him. That is why he is here, is he not?_

"I suppose," the Ootsutsuki answered calmly, gracefully gliding closer, the crowd parting away while still watching in awe, "I ought to tell you that we are one and the same, but it is I who inhabited the body from birth to the recent loss - I am he who is called Tsuyoshi. A distant cousin of the Sage of Six Paths himself, therefore another loathing of Kaguya herself."

Itachi felt himself frown. Then Naruto leaned in and whispered, "That witch hated her sons because they had _her_ chakra." _So, the carry on of gods and their children hating each other for small and great reasons - and this case being chakra. Of course..._

"If that is the case, then why do you bother to care about me?"

Tsuyoshi's smile never wavered. He never seemed to change to another expression, did he? "Have you not already figured it out, Itachi? You died for the village, yes, and you protected both its people and the life of the little brother you loved so much...all at the cost of the personal happiness you deserved. I granted you this chance to live - but as a minor price, changes were made to your physical form as you have noticed, and it was all up to you to regain it. To rediscover yourself."

 _I was right all along. He isn't a threat like many in his clan - he saw me as special and worthy of a second chance. He made necessary changes because..._

The next thing he was aware of was a flash of light before his vision. He heard voices crying out in surprise, but Tsuyoshi's voice was the clearest of them all.

 _"It will be best if I just show you, Itachi."_

~o~

 _Darkness, but everything was clear._

 _A glowing human form stood, back facing his eye range - but he saw what the being was looking upon and sucked in a breath. Laying on a cold slab, abandoned and left to be forgotten, with no honorable burial, was his own dead body._

 _He was the same as he'd been in life, wearing the same clothes except his Akatsuki cloak which had all but been burnt off when his brother struck him down. Any remaining blood had all but dried off, and so had his skin which was now ashen gray and cracking in decomposition. His raven hair, still tied back, faded to dark gray and lost its luster. The slashed headband of his village, marking him as a traitor, remained - before it was gone, removed by the hand of the mysterious god-like being who shook his head in dismay and muttered words that were incoherent to his own senses._

"You will not go back out into the world this way again. You will start anew..."

 _As he began to work on the corpse, he continued to speak aloud._

"You will not remain here for eternity, abandoned and alone, forgotten and never to be honored."

 _The dark garments had been removed, without damaging any part of the fragile, pitiful thing which still harbored potential. Heartbeats echoed from somewhere unidentifiable - was it his own? Now the corpse was nude, and everything seemed intact, except for one certain spot which would warp his entire being. Seeing this damage done, the man sighed sharply._ "It appears I can't repair this by my own hands; you will have to do this on your own when you return to the world, Itachi."

 _The shriveled excuse of masculinity was removed with careful precision, the crown of faded curls gone with it, and then the working hands found their way over the face - particularly at the black holes where eyes should be rested._

"Nor can I give you your eyes back yet. Alas, I cannot find you a new pair when your brother now has them. I will make do with what is available for now - but that is not the only reason. No man should be all-powerful as your ancestors once were..."

 _With that said and done, both hands were raised as the jutsu was performed._

~o~

He was back in reality. The air had been knocked out of his lungs.

Time seemed to freeze. The murmurs of the people around him told him that they did not see what he had, but they assumed that the god-like being had showed him what transpired before he, the legendary Itachi Uchiha, was returned to the world. None of them were fools anymore; if there were any, they were wise to stay back and hold their tongues.

He held his breath as he replayed the image one more time: his nude cadaver abandoned in the old hideout, his eyes taken for his then foolish little brother, and his manhood had been beyond repair. The last bit had been for Itachi on his own: to find someone who loved and worshipped him as a man and not the tool he'd been. Tsuyoshi's jutsu activated via carnal contact to give him a new part of life; now he understood this. _He never wanted me to go back to being a Shinobi, so he changed this part of me. He wanted me to experience life in another way, which goes without saying: "you will never truly understand death until life is given by your hand."_

Tsuyoshi wanted him to become pregnant by a MAN who loved him, not a woman, because it would be by this way that he would truly understand the meaning of life. Perhaps unconsciously, Itachi had simply never been attracted to the opposite sex, so this Ootsutsuki brought it to the surface for him, and he had to find out for himself. Just as he'd left his prize alone to awake and set out on the journey he'd been on.

"You understand now, Itachi."

"Yes," he breathed softly, before the voice of his partner spoke.

"You said you were my brother from birth to death. I want a better explanation as to why my beloved brother had to endure this without me knowing."

Now it was safe to say that the pupil-less eyes fell slightly along with the rest of his face. "I have spent countless eons living through one human being to the next, because of the fact that I am one of few outcasts within my clan spited most by Kaguya and those who sided with her. Therefore, I had no place to live but through others from their time of birth to the end of their lives - some times good and others bad, per cycle of human life." The smile slowly returned. "And your brother was no terrible exception. I kept myself in the back of his subconscious, allowing him free will of his own, but alas, it meant sacrificing my own. A downfall of mine: I am too benevolent for my own good, but the happiness of others means my own. And when the host least expects it, I leave them to perform the necessary tasks I am entitled to...just as I have done for you, Itachi, and for those around you." He sighed.

"But in the end, there is grief to the ones who loved the host, but as I have said - and as you know - it is life. I may live forever, but not the ones like your brother, Hotaka. You don't have to thank me or forgive me in any way - but you loved your brother, he loved you, and that is all there is to it."

 _The bond between brothers, no matter the form, is stronger than any in the universe._

 _Just as an Uchiha loves with all the power in life._

Speaking of power...

"You know the love of a brother so well - the love of anyone in existence," Itachi spoke, reaching for the shades given to him by his sister-in-law, "but as to why you did not give me spare eyes..." With that, he took them off to show his swirling Sharingan amidst black, drawing gasps around him.

"You already know that answer, as well: no man needs all the power in the world...but you never truly sought it for diabolical reasons like Madara Uchiha. Your brother has the Rinnegan and your family's Sharingan in one because it was beset to him when his soul was saved, so that he would continue to protect this village. You were once hated out of self-sacrifice, but now the village knows the truth about you, and you are a free man, Itachi Uchiha." With that, he raised his hand and brought them over to his eyes, without directly touching him -

\- and a sensation overcame him, setting his nerves on fire.

Itachi felt himself stagger backwards by a few steps, only to be supported on either side, by none other than his partner and...

 _Sasuke._

When he recovered, he found himself looking into the eyes of his younger brother. "You couldn't have come at a more perfect timing, _otouto,_ " he said, half-strangled and feeling as though he had been drugged. What had Tsuyoshi done to him now?

"Itachi...your eyes." Sasuke's face bore a tired smile that managed to reach ear to ear.

Hotaka and Naruto concurred, and the rest around them gasped in sheer amazement as they looked upon him. Tsuyoshi held his hand up, and in it was what could be a substitute for a real mirror so the Uchiha could see his face...and he could not hold back the gasp that escaped his lips as he saw his irises were the deep onyx he had been born with, surrounded by white with life. He brought a hand up to rest beneath the left orb, faintly touching.

"Th-thank you," he managed when he looked up at the being that was gracious enough to give him this chance at life.

"There is no need to thank me for anything, Itachi Uchiha. You are free to live as long as need be, to never take what you love around you for granted, to make sure they cherish every moment they have with you...and to take care of this man," the being answered with a wink in Hotaka's direction. In response, Hotaka closed his eyes and bowed his head at the man who had lived within the brother he loved so much and lost.

"Hotaka, and the rest of you -" he said to his "brother" and their group, baring his teeth if not to frighten. "- remember I said to never give up?" They all nodded without speaking. With that, Tsuyoshi - who had once been _Tsuneo_ \- was gone in a fading flash of white and blue.

A heavy silence hung over the village. The people who had attended this night did not know how to take what had just happened, but no one was afraid for their lives. No one was fighting.

The shock weighing upon them all slowly faded to calm with what just happened...and then the attention was on him, Itachi, and applause burst to life. Once they knew that their long-dead savior was standing here with their equally heroic Hokage, they must have thought it an honor that he was in their presence during the celebration created in his honor.

He was overwhelmed. He had never felt anything like this. Yes, he welcomed the love of his family, Naruto's friendship and those of his pack, and he knew that he more than cared about Hotaka besides as just a friend and partner...but never did he think he would live to obtain more from the people of this very village he gave his life for.

He turned his attention to see Sasuke running over to his wife and daughter, making Itachi smile when his brother kissed Sakura before taking Sarada into his arms, holding her as if he never wanted to let go. _Well...it appears I may have gotten through to him, after all._

Now he could give his attention to the other important man in his life - only to be taken into arms and lifted, spun around before a passionate lip-lock infused more exclamations and set him on fire. He could not push this away now; he wrapped his arms around Hotaka's shoulders and let the kiss be deepened.

~o~

"You know, Itachi, you are welcomed back any time - and so are you, Hotaka," Naruto told them both when he, Sasuke and their families saw them off at the end of the festival. Itachi was once again leaving the Leaf Village, but it would never be for forever.

Itachi nodded. "I know. I thank you for all of this, Naruto - and you, too," he said to Sasuke who came up to him and wrapped his remaining arm around his brother's shoulder.

"Thank you, Itachi, for making me realize something."

He lifted a brow. "And whatever is that?"

"For being here - to make each moment count again," Sasuke answered softly. "So, I have decided to do the same...to be home more than I used to, most importantly with my wife and daughter." His eyes shone with a light brighter than the sun overhead, making Itachi melt inside. _Yes, because if they lose you, or if you lose them, you won't get it back like me._ But he chose to leave the words unspoken.

Itachi sighed and pressed his forehead against his brother's. "No one can ask for a brother like you, Sasuke."

Sakura placed her hand on his back, but no words were needed to be spoken. However, Sarada nearly knocked him over when she threw her arms around his waist. "Don't be gone too long again, _oji-san_ ," she pleaded, looking up with wide eyes again, making him smile. He knelt before her and took her into his arms, trying not to weep. He was going to miss her, too. The next time he visited, he swore, he would bring a box of their shared favorite dango. As long as he lived, he planned to spoil his niece rotten.

The wolf pack was howling softly as they said - rather, sniffed, licked and pawed - their goodbyes, and Sarada fawned over the pups, holding them all close to her. While that was being done, Itachi turned over his shoulder to look at the group he had returned to, back to his life - and both Isao and Kichiro were genuinely smiling at him.

Fumio might as well be a bit of a surprise. Though he had finally realized his error and accepted Itachi, he was still a little wary. It would take a little more time for him to get used to the fact the famed Itachi Uchiha was a part of his "family".

When the goodbyes for now were made, the group set off back to Kirinono. Itachi had to let out an exhale of breath at the thought of the town which became his home.

 _Home._

How could there be any words to describe how good he felt now that the disguises were dropped, and he could be as he pleased for as long as he would live again?

He sat in the front with Hotaka, the wolves again behind them, and his lover and child's father smiled down at him, placing a kiss on his cheek. "How does it feel to finally be your own man, Itachi?" he asked softly, then looked down at the younger man's stomach where he'd learned of the new surprise the night everything had ended rather well. Hotaka had been stunned, but when he recovered, he beamed and wept for joy, telling Itachi he was happier than he'd been in a long time. He wanted the baby that Itachi was carrying - but while refreshing and exciting as it was to be a new chapter in his life, it was also foreign and frightening. He never even thought he would have a child of his own, not even if he'd been arranged in a marriage by his father - or this way now. But it didn't matter now.

"I have never felt so happy," he answered, leaning against Hotaka, before he felt the weight of a familiar head resting on his lap. Shiranui whimpered and growled softly, relieved that he and his family would remain with Itachi for as long as they would. _They were with me when I returned to this world, they followed me when I found this man and his friends who are now mine - and they were with me when I rekindled with Sasuke and his new family. MY family. Everything I have is as it should be._

Itachi stroked his wolf companion's head with one hand before taking his lover's free one - just for the moment - and placing it over his still-flat stomach, to let him feel the baby where it would sleep and grow for nine more months. From the corner of his eye, Hotaka looked down and smiled before gently pulling his hand free so he could focus on the reins of the horses in front of them.

 _We'll have many years together. I will miss him if he's gone sooner than I, but I will always cherish these days I spend with him and our son or daughter. Nothing in life should_ ever _be taken for granted._

 **I have to say this was a HELL of a change from my usual fic fare, but I'm proud of it. :) It has been such an emotional ride. Thank you all for your support.**


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